Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said U.S. President Donald Trump is right in saying that Liberals would be “easier for him to deal with” as a trade war between Canada and the United States continues.
In an interview with Fox News Tuesday night, Trump called Canada “one of the nastiest countries to deal with,” but added that he “would rather deal with a Liberal than a Conservative.”
“The Conservative that’s running is stupidly no friend of mine,” Trump said about Poilievre.
“He said negative things, so when he says negative things, I couldn’t care less.
“I think it’s easier to deal actually with a Liberal and maybe they’re going to win, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me at all.”
At a press conference in Sudbury, Ont., Poilievre responded to Trump’s remarks, touting himself to be a “strong leader” and a “tough guy.”
Poilievre said Trump wants to see the Liberals under the new Prime Minister Mark Carney stay in power because they “will keep this country weak.”
“Mark Carney will back down and his Liberal policies will keep Canada weak, just like Trump wants,” he told reporters.
“Giving the Liberals a fourth term will only weaken our country and strengthen Donald Trump.”
The Liberal Party has widened its lead over the Conservatives since Carney took over the leadership, according to new Ipsos polling exclusive to Global News, published Tuesday.
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If a federal election were held tomorrow, the Liberals would secure 42 per cent of decided voter support, compared with 36 per cent for the Conservatives, the polling showed.
That level of support would put the Liberals in position for a potential majority government.
The next federal election hasn’t been set yet, but an early call is widely expected soon.
Carney officially took over from former prime minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The change in leadership comes amid trade tensions between Canada and the U.S.
Trump has slapped tariffs on Canada, to which Ottawa has responded to with counter-tariffs.
In his interview with Fox, Trump also reiterated his claim that Canada should be a part of the U.S.
“Canada was meant to be the 51st state because we subsidize Canada by $200 billion a year,” Trump said.
“We don’t need their cars. We don’t their lumber.”
The U.S. does not provide subsidies to Canada. The U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada largely as a result of the high energy needs of the U.S. economy.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that purely on goods traded, the deficit with Canada was US$64.26 billion in 2023. The year before, it was US$78.19 billion.
Without Canadian energy exports, the trade relationship is reversed. The U.S. enjoys a trade surplus of around $60 billion in its relationship with Canada when one doesn’t count energy exports.
Carney is expected to hold his first conversation with Trump as prime minister in the coming days.
Speaking to reporters in London, U.K., Monday on his first international trip as prime minister, Carney said Trump’s continued threats to make Canada a U.S. state “need to stop” before his government can sit down for talks on an updated trade partnership.
Canadians are split on who they think would be the best leader to take on Trump, polling shows.
According to a February Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News, more than a quarter of Canadians (28 per cent) say Poilievre is a tough negotiator who would get the best deal for Canada from Trump. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) said the same for Carney.
Despite Poilievre being ranked the best in terms of negotiating with Trump, 31 per cent of Canadians also said in that same poll the Tory leader would “roll over and accept whatever President Trump demands.”
— With files from Global News Katie Dangerfield and Sean Boynton
