Donald Trump has claimed “Canada lives because of the United States”, hitting out at prime minister Mark Carney during his speech to world leaders in Switzerland.
The U.S. president addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday, a day after the Canadian leader warned global diplomacy was currently in the “midst of a rupture”.
Trump claimed Canada gets many “freebies” from the U.S. and “should be grateful”, before adding that Carney's comments on Tuesday showed he “wasn't so grateful”.
“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump told the audience in the Swiss mountain resort. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
While he avoided mentioning Trump directly by name in his speech, Carney said Canada “strongly opposes tariffs over Greenland” and called for strategic talks while standing with Denmark over their claims to sovereignty of the island territory.
Global tensions have been mounting over the president’s threats to impose tariffs on European countries that refuse to support his bid to take Greenland.
Trump doubled down on his warnings over the territory during his speech, declaring that “no nation can secure Greenland other than the U.S.”, but he insisted he will not use force to annex it.
He has previously called for Canada to join the U.S. as the “51st state”, which has drawn sharp rebukes, leading to strained relations between the United States and its northern neighbour.
Trump is fixated with Canada’s “vulnerability” to foreign adversaries and has recently turned his attention to the country, according to reports.
In his Davos speech, the president declared that once built, his promised Golden Dome will defend Canada.
Days after his inauguration, Trump issued the “Iron Dome for America” executive order to create a cutting-edge defence system that protects the U.S. from long-range missile attacks, pledging that it would be operational within three years from then.
“Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space, and we will have the best system ever built,” Trump said at the time.
Trump also used his Davos address to lash out at Nato and Europe, describing the continent as “unrecognisable” due to immigration – echoing a trope repeated by the European and American far-right.
“I love Europe, and I want to see Europe go good, but it's not heading in the right direction,” he said.
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