‘Never’: Canada’s next PM fires back at Trump
Donald Trump may have just met his match, with former bank boss Mark Carney elected to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s PM.
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Canada’s incoming Prime Minister has used his first speech to issue a fiery challenge to Donald Trump, accusing him of “trying to weaken our economy” with tariffs and slamming the president’s threats to annex the country.
“In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” Mark Carney said moments after being announced as Canada’s new leader with 85 per cent of the vote.
“America is not Canada and Canada will never be part of America in any shape or form.”
Mr Carney slammed the Trump administration’s tariffs.
“He’s attacking Canadian families, businesses and workers and we cannot let him succeed, and we won’t,” he said.
“I am proud of the response of Canadians who are making their voices heard and their wallets felt.
“I am grateful for how our provinces are stepping up to the fight because when we are united, we are Canada strong.”
Mr Carney, who won the leadership in a landslide following a ballot of 400,000 Liberal party members, said the government had already “rightly retaliated” with its own tariffs which he said would remain in place until “Americans show us respect”.
Canada is due to go to a Federal election by October and Mr Carney hit out at his opposition - Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Mr Carney said “Donald Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer” and claimed Mr Poilievre’s plans would leave the country divided and vulnerable to such an attack.
“A person who worships at the altar of Donald trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him,” Mr Carney said.
It came after Mr Trudeau delivered an emotional farewell speech saying he was “damn proud” of his achievements in office and warning the country faced an “existential challenge” from the United States.
“As your leader, as your Prime Minister, I have done my level best each and every single day to help build a country that remains worthy of all Canadians,” Mr Trudeau said.
Mr Carney’s daughter introduced her father and the “24th Prime Minister of Canada” to the gathered party loyalists.
Mr Carney, a political newcomer, economist and banker, paid tribute to Mr Trudeau.
“You have combined strength and compassion every day as a fighter for Canada,” he said.
MAN SHOT OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE; JETS SCRAMBLE TO MAR-A-LAGO
In the US, two serious security threats have been made against US President Donald Trump - the Secret Service shot a man during an “armed encounter” near the White House, and the US Air Force intercepted two aircrafts that invaded the airspace above his Florida resort.
Andrew Dawson, 27, from Indiana was carrying a knife and a gun when he was confronted by agents just after midnight on Sunday, one block from the West Wing, police sources told The New York Post.
A Secret Service spokesman said the incident came after Indiana police shared information about a “suicidal individual” who may be travelling to Washington DC.
“Around midnight, members of the Secret Service encountered the individual’s parked vehicle near 17th and F Streets, NW,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
“They also saw an individual on foot matching the description nearby.
“As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel.”
President Donald Trump was not at the White House at the time and was scheduled to have been at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Indiana, in the Midwest, is about a 10-hour drive to Washington DC.
The man was transported to hospital in an unknown condition.
There were no reported injuries to members of the Secret Service involved in the incident.
“The incident is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division’s Force Investigations Team, which investigates all law enforcement officer involved shootings in the District of Columbia,” the spokesman said.
Later on Sunday, Air Force F-16 fighter jets scrambled to intercept aircrafts that invaded the space over Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at about 1.15pm, according to a statement posted on X by the US defence command.
The jets fired flares to warn the pilots to leave the area and the aircraft was escorted away.
Mr Trump was at Mar-a-Lago when the two planes ignored the no-fly zone.
TRUMP’S ARMAGEDDON WARNING
Donald Trump issued a stark warning that stockpiles of “monster nukes” in the US, Russia and China could trigger the apocalypse.
Mr Trump was interviewed on Fox News on Sunday when he said nuclear weapons were the biggest threat to humanity.
“We spend a lot of money of nuclear weapons - the level of destruction is beyond anything you can imagine,” he said.
“It’s just bad that you have to spend all this money on something that if it’s used, it’s probably the end of the world.”
NOW - Trump says the "climate lunatics" talk about the climate, but nobody talks about the "dangers of nuclear weapons," which "are big monsters that blow your heads off from miles and miles."pic.twitter.com/4zg6riKBMX
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 9, 2025
Russia has around 6000 nuclear weapons, making it the largest stockpile in the world.
The US has the second-largest stockpile, with about 5000, and China has the third with around 350.
Mr Trump went on to say people were too concerned about climate change when the real threat was nuclear explosions.
“It could happen tomorrow,” he said.
“I watched Biden for years say the existential threat is from the climate. I said ‘no’.
“The greatest is sitting on shelves in various countries called ‘nuclear weapons’ that are big monsters that can blow your heads off for miles and miles and miles.”
His comments came after France offered to use nuclear weapons to protect Europe from Russia.
There are also concerns Iran has been developing nuclear weapons. In response, Mr Trump sent their government a letter calling for talks.
“Nuclear weapons ... are big monsters that can blow your head off for miles and miles and miles,” he said.
Last week, he said it would be “great” to get rid of nuclear weapons.
ICE ARRESTS LEADER OF UNIVERSITY PROTESTS
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Palestinian activist who has been one of the leading figures in instigating anti-Israel student takeovers of the Columbia University campus, according to his lawyer.
Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the prestigious New York uni in December, was inside his university-owned apartment a few blocks from campus when ICE agents entered the residence and took him into custody, lawyer Amy Greer told AP.
As agents raided the apartment, the school put out a statement addressing the presence of agents in the vicinity of the campus, and stated its intention to push back against ICE’s lawful actions in accordance with so-called sanctuary city laws.
An ICE agent reportedly told Ms Greer the agency was enforcing a State Department edict to revoke Khalil’s student visa as well as his green card, pursuant to President Trump’s recent pledge to deport foreign student “agitators” responsible for fomenting campus unrest.
The news comes just days after Mr Trump announced plans to cancel about US$400 million in government grants and contracts from Columbia due to its noncompliance with anti-discrimination laws.
TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON TARIFFS
US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his tariffs stance despite giving Mexico and Canada an 11th hour temporary reprieve, citing the mass closure of American factories as the imperative.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social to explain why he would ultimately proceed with imposing significant tariffs on imports from across the globe.
“The head of the United Autoworkers of America just stated that TARIFFS ARE NECESSARY to correct years of abuse of the USA by other countries and companies,” Mr Trump wrote.
“We have lost 90,000 factories and plants since the beginning of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).”
NAFTA was implemented in 1994 and replaced in 2020 with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020.
President Trump then announced he would place reciprocal tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber if Canada does not drop its rates of export to America.
“Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products, 250 per cent,” Mr Trump said during a White House press conference.
“Nobody ever talks about that, 250 per cent tariff, which is taking advantage of our farmers. So that’s not going to happen anymore.”
“They’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that’s what reciprocal means,” the president added.
“And we may do it as early as today, or we’ll wait till Monday or Tuesday, but that’s what we’re going to do.”
Wall St briefly plummeted as a result of the announcement but soon rebounded.
Earlier this week, the President took executive action to pause tariffs on imports that are subject to the USMCA for one month.
Roughly 38 per cent of imports from Canada and 50 per cent from Mexico are subject to the USMCA agreement and will not face the 25 per cent tariff Mr Trump implemented Tuesday for one month as a result.
Mr Trump gave the nations a reprieve after speaking to both of their leaders and noting the efforts Mexico had made to halt the flow of illegal migration.
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Originally published as ‘Never’: Canada’s next PM fires back at Trump
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