Trump to PM Carney: merger of Canada & US! Canadian reporter: If he’s great man why aren’t you?

President Trump hosted Canadian PM Mark Carney at the White House, delivering a string of memorable exchanges. When Carney introduced the “most important” topic of the day, Trump cut in with a joke: “The merger of Canada and the United States.” A Canadian reporter then pressed Trump on the stalled trade deal, asking why he wasn’t closing it if Carney was such a “great man” — Trump fired back, “Because I want to be a great man too.” On other topics, Trump signed the Ambler Road Project in Alaska, a 211-mile road to the Ambler Mining District that Biden had reversed; Trump framed it as “an economic gold mine” that should have been “long operating and making billions of dollars for our country.” Asked about invoking the Insurrection Act for Portland, Trump said the law had been used before and he would deploy federal resources to Chicago if the governor could not control crime — citing Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “4% approval rating” as “lower than even DeBlasio had.” Trump contrasted that with DC, which he called a “raging hellhole” before federal intervention and now a place where “you could walk right down the middle of the street. There is no crime in DC.”

Carney Visit: “The Merger”

Carney opened his own remarks by signaling a weighty topic: “And now, and I’m running out of time, but this is many respects the most important.”

Trump immediately cut in: “The merger created. The merger created of Canada? No, what? And the United States?”

The joke referenced Trump’s running commentary about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Carney — who has publicly rejected the premise — paused, and Trump added, “I don’t like it. That wasn’t where I was going.”

The moment captured the Trump-Carney dynamic: Carney attempting substantive diplomacy while Trump inserts provocative jokes. Carney has had to navigate this tone since taking office, balancing Canadian sovereignty concerns against the need to do trade business with Trump.

”Great Man Too”

A Canadian reporter pressed Trump on the slow pace of negotiations: “So then, plus holding things up, if he’s a great man and you want to do a deal with Canada, why aren’t you?”

Trump answered without missing a beat: “Because I want to be a great man too.”

The response drew laughter. The substance underneath: Trump wants to extract U.S. favorable terms before closing — being “great” to the American side means resisting a deal that would make Carney “great” to the Canadian side. Trump treats trade negotiations as zero-sum performance.

Democrats “Have No Leader”

Trump pivoted to the government shutdown context. “I’ll tell you what, I’m getting calls from Democrats wanting to meet. I never even heard their names before and they’re claiming to be leaders. The Democrats have no leader.”

Trump compared the Democratic disorganization to Somalia and recalled meeting Somalia’s president. The comment drew criticism from Democratic figures as an ethnic jab at Rep. Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia. Trump framed it as a critique of Democratic leadership vacuum rather than Omar specifically, though the reference was clear.

Democratic strategists have publicly acknowledged a leadership gap since Biden’s 2024 exit, with Schumer, Jeffries, and potential 2028 contenders all polling poorly against Trump.

Ambler Road Signed

Trump then pivoted to an Alaska mining road signing. “We have a very big signing today having to do with Alaska, a place that I’m very familiar with. And we’re making it greater and bigger and more powerful and job producing. It’s an economic gold mine, so to speak.”

The Ambler Road is a 211-mile industrial access route to the remote Ambler Mining District in northwestern Alaska, an area rich in copper, zinc, cobalt, and rare-earth minerals critical to defense and energy supply chains.

“And I signed this years ago and Biden unsigned it for me,” Trump said. “This is something that should have been long operating and making billions of dollars for our country and supplying a lot of energy and minerals and everything else that we’re talking about.”

Trump had approved the project during his first term in 2020. The Biden administration reversed the approval in 2024, citing tribal and environmental concerns. Trump’s second-term approval restarts the project.

“And they undid it and wasted a lot of time and a lot of money, a lot of effort. And now we’re starting again. At this time, we have plenty of time to get it done and it’s going to be done properly.”

Insurrection Act Question

A reporter asked whether Trump was planning to invoke the Insurrection Act for Portland. Trump acknowledged the law’s history: “Yeah, well, it’s been invoked before, as you know.”

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows a president to deploy federal troops domestically to suppress insurrection or enforce federal law. It was last invoked by President George H.W. Bush during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Trump used the answer to pivot to Chicago. “If you look at Chicago, Chicago is a great city where there’s a lot of crime. And if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job. It’s all very simple.”

Chicago: “50 Murders”

Trump detailed Chicago’s crime picture: “They probably had 50 murders in Chicago over the last five, six, seven months. Many people were shot. And then the governor gets up and he says, well, we can handle it. They can’t handle it. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Chicago’s murder rate has remained among the highest in major U.S. cities, though 2024-2025 did show year-over-year declines from 2021 peaks. Trump’s critique: local leadership is claiming success while the underlying numbers remain extreme.

On Mayor Brandon Johnson: “The mayor is grossly incompetent. He’s at a 4% approval rating in Chicago. He’s at a 4% lowest approval rating, lower than even DeBlasio had, which is hard to believe in New York.”

Johnson’s actual approval has hovered between 6% and 14% in various 2024-2025 polls — still among the worst in Chicago mayoral history. The DeBlasio comparison references former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose final approval ratings reached similar lows.

“I thought DeBlasio would always maintain that record, but the Chicago guy is even lower.”

DC: “No Crime”

Trump contrasted Chicago’s situation with DC’s post-intervention state. “If you look at DC, you would right now, Mark, you could go out, take your family out to dinner. You could walk right down the middle of the street. There is no crime in DC.”

“What I got here, this place was a raging hellhole where people would come from Canada. People would come from other places and end up getting shot. Nobody’s being shot.”

The DC National Guard deployment began earlier in 2025 after a federal crime-emergency declaration. Trump has pointed to the DC transformation as proof of concept for extending similar interventions to Chicago, Portland, and other cities.

“The National Guard’s been unbelievable. I mean, they are strong, tough guys.”

Key Takeaways

• Trump’s joke to Carney: “The merger of Canada and the United States” — cutting into Carney’s “most important topic” setup.
• Trump on stalled deal: “Because I want to be a great man too” — responding to a Canadian reporter asking why the trade deal wasn’t closing.
• Trump on Democrats: “I’m getting calls from Democrats wanting to meet. I never even heard their names before and they’re claiming to be leaders. The Democrats have no leader.”
• Trump on Ambler Road: “I signed this years ago and Biden unsigned it for me. This is something that should have been long operating and making billions of dollars for our country.”
• Trump on Chicago vs DC: “If the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job … This place was a raging hellhole where people would come from Canada. People would come from other places and end up getting shot. Nobody’s being shot. The National Guard’s been unbelievable.”