Trump Threatens Canada After Carney Draws Standing Ovation at Davos
President Trump used his time at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday in Davos to admonish Canada as its leaders look to other world powers for more coherent and consistent partnership.
“We’re going to build the greatest golden dome ever built … that’s going to just, by its very nature, going to be defending Canada,” Trump said, referring to his far-fetched plan to build a defense system covering the entire North American continent, a larger version of Israel’s short-range Iron Dome.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful also, but they’re not,” Trump continued. “I watched your prime minister yesterday, he wasn’t so grateful. They should be grateful to us.… Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Trump: "The Golden Dome is going to be defending Canada. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful but they're not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful. But they should be grateful to us. Canada. Canada lives because of… pic.twitter.com/pL1F9nppbx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2026
The Trump administration has shown increased aggression toward NATO and North American allies alike, eroding years of soft power and diplomatic relations.
“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically,” Carney said at his Tuesday speech in Davos. “And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.
“This fiction was useful, and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods. Open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes,” Carney continued. “We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”