Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told United States President Donald Trump his country was "never for sale" as they met at the White House amid tensions on tariffs and sovereignty.
In their first Oval Office meeting, Trump insisted to the recently elected Carney it would be a "wonderful marriage" if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.
But the issue caused tense moments between the two leaders — and Carney later said he had asked Trump in private to stop calling for Canada to join the US.
"As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale," Carney told property tycoon Trump, comparing Canada to the Oval Office itself and to Britain's Buckingham Palace.
Carney said: "Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign in the last several months, it's not for sale. It won't be for sale, ever."
Trump then replied: "Never say never."
Liberal leader Carney, 60, won Canada's 28 April election on a pledge to stand up to Republican Trump, 78, warning ties between the North American neighbours could never be the same.
Trump has sparked a major trade war with Canada with his tariffs while repeatedly making extraordinary calls for the key NATO ally and major trading partner to become part of the US.
The two leaders began their meeting with warm words — but while they expressed a willingness to work towards a trade deal to end the tariffs, it became clear that common ground would be hard to find.
'A very friendly conversation'
Carney, at points, gripped his hands tightly together, and his knee jiggled up and down while Trump spoke.
Trump, when asked if there was anything Carney could say in the meeting that would persuade him to drop tariffs, replied bluntly: "No. It's just the way it is."
A visibly tense Trump even referenced his blazing Oval Office row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February — if only to insist that there would be no repeat.
"We had another little blow-up with somebody else, that was much different — this is a very friendly conversation," Trump said.
'The president will say what he wants'
Carney later told a press conference the trade talks were "complex" but that his two-hour discussions with Trump were "very constructive".
But he said he had called on Trump to stop urging Canada to become its 51st state.
"I told him that it wasn't useful to repeat this idea, but the president will say what he wants," Carney said, speaking in French.
The meeting was highly anticipated after a Canadian election during which Carney vowed the US would never "own us".
Carney has since vowed to remake NATO member Canada's ties with the US in perhaps its biggest political and economic shift since World War Two.
Trump has imposed general tariffs of 25 per cent on Canada and Mexico and sector-specific levies on autos, some of which have been suspended pending negotiations. He has imposed similar duties on steel and aluminium.
