Mark Carney Comes to Washington With a Message

Prime Minister Mark Carney did what he came to do in Washington on Tuesday—he reminded his counterpart to the south that Canada is a sovereign nation. But Donald Trump’s musings about taking over Canada (or Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Gaza Strip) weren’t the big takeaway of their Oval Office meeting. Instead it was the US president’s global trade war and the deals that haven’t happened yet.

While most every day brings headlines with hints and promises that deals spurred by American tariffs are in the offing, none have materialized. At the White House today, Trump even expressed exasperation with all the questions about when any agreements would be struck. And while Trump has said the US is in negotiations with China—the main target of his tariff ire—his key deputy on such matters, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, conceded to Congress that’s actually not the case.