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Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump talked about NATO, Iran and the wider security situation in the Middle East on Wednesday in what the prime minister described as a “constructive conversation.”
Speaking at a news conference heading into Parliament’s summer break on Thursday, the prime minister said the president called him and the talks, at times, involved senior White House officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
A readout from the Prime Minister’s Office, shortly after the conversation on Wednesday, referenced only the talks about NATO. The conversation happened on the same day as the Western alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, met Trump in the Oval Office in preparation for next month’s leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey.
“We had a long discussion with him,” said Carney, adding that only a portion of what they talked about related to NATO. “Some related to the situation in Iran and the broader Middle East, both current and structural issues. It was a very constructive conversation, those things we’re working on together. I think those are best left till they come to fruition.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a long discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday on issues including NATO, Iran and ‘the broader Middle East.’ When asked by a reporter about the U.S. acknowledging that Canada is hitting its NATO spending targets, Carney said that ‘Canada is pulling its weight now.’
Canada and other allies have committed to defensive, independent maritime missions to conduct mine clearance and reassure commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed during the war with the United States and Israel. One of the long-term structural proposals Canada has been involved in includes the establishment of an independent Hormuz International Maritime Authority to prevent future economic blockades.
Additionally, Canada has been actively co-ordinating G7 pressure to ensure Iran doesn’t stall verification of its uranium stockpile. It is pushing for comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to heavily damaged enrichment sites.
Carney also revealed he spoke with Trump about how Canada is working with other NATO allies to secure the Arctic.
During the question and answer session with journalists, he underlined Canada’s increase in defence investment and predicted that the country will be spending four per cent of the gross domestic product on defence by 2029 (2.5 per cent directly on the military and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure).
That’s the year the alliance is scheduled to formally review the spending benchmark.