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US President Donald Trump held talks on Friday with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with discussions partly centred on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The three leaders met in Washington alongside the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which the United States, Canada and Mexico will jointly host.
According to Carney’s office, the meeting lasted about three-quarters of an hour. It resulted in an agreement to continue working together on the current trade framework known in Canada as CUSMA and in the United States as the USMCA.
The deal, which was concluded during Trump’s first term in office, is now under renewed scrutiny after Washington imposed heavy tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico that fall outside the agreement.
The US has also signalled its intention to renegotiate the pact next year.
The talks marked the first in-person meeting between Trump and Sheinbaum since she became president.
Carney, by contrast, has already visited the White House twice since Trump returned to office, apart from a brief encounter between the two leaders at a summit in South Korea.
Relations were previously strained after Washington abruptly suspended trade negotiations following a disagreement over an advert criticising tariffs.
Trump has repeatedly warned that further measures could follow unless both neighbours step up efforts to limit illegal migration and the flow of drugs across borders.
His suggestion that he would not rule out US air strikes in Mexico to tackle trafficking operations sparked anger in Mexico, prompting Sheinbaum to insist such action would never be permitted.
Tensions between Washington and Ottawa have also been heightened by Trump’s earlier comments about Canada becoming the 51st US state, remarks that caused widespread outrage.
Carney himself drew attention at a recent G20 summit in South Africa when he dismissed a question about whether he had spoken to Trump by replying, “Who cares?”
Despite these frictions, Trump struck a positive tone on Friday when discussing preparations for the World Cup, saying the US had worked closely with both countries and describing the cooperation as strong and productive.
