Canada's Carney isn't having a bilateral meeting with Trump at G7 but says it's not a snub

By — Rob Gillies, Associated Press Rob Gillies, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/canadas-carney-isnt-having-a-bilateral-meeting-with-trump-at-g7-but-says-its-not-a-snub Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Canada's Carney isn't having a bilateral meeting with Trump at G7 but says it's not a snub World Jun 17, 2026 1:08 PM EDT EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will leave the G7 summit on Wednesday without a formal meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as the free-trade agreement between their countries faces an uncertain future. Canadian leaders typically get a bilateral meeting with American presidents at summits of the world's leading industrialized democracies, but Carney dismissed any notion of a snub. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. "I wouldn't take a big message from that," Carney said. "I had seven or eight discussions with President Trump over the course of last 36 hours. I'll have more today, a wide range of subjects from the economy, relations, his birthday, artificial intelligence, Ukraine, obviously Iran." Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January helped make him an international political star, when he declared the global rules-based order over and condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks and upstaged Trump at the gathering. Talks on the latest iteration of the North American free-trade pact have reached a crucial moment. The agreement, which has intertwined the economies of Canada, the United States and Mexico since the early 1990s, is up for renewal on July 1. Trump said last week he may not renew the deal. READ MORE: Canada's Carney says middle-power countries shouldn't compete for favor with the U.S. Preserving the accord is critical for Canada, which sends about 75% of its exports to the U.S. Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister responsible for trade with the U.S., and Janice Charette, Canada's chief negotiator, met with U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer at the summit. LeBlanc said they made progress. LeBlanc has previously said he believes the U.S. might want to have the trade agreement subject to annual reviews, and that the Trump administration might seek to cause uncertainty about its permanence. French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, is the only G7 leader to get a bilateral meeting thus far. Trump also met one on one with the leaders of non-G7 countries of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and India. Carney noted the host country always meets with the American president. WATCH: Trump joins official leaders' greeting at G7 summit in France Carney used humor to engage with Trump in at least one of their interactions about trade. In a lighter moment, a microphone caug