Trump, Carney debate annexing Canada as 51st state in White House visit: recap
The meeting with Carney comes after the head of Canada's Liberal Party won an election campaigning against Trump policies for tariffs and annexation.

- Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, testifies about border security at a House Appropriations subcommittee.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies about tariffs and a huge cut in IRS funding at another House Appropriations subcommittee.
WASHINGTON – Fireworks lit up disputes about President Donald Trump’s priorities in a series of high-stakes meetings about foreign affairs and domestic spending.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump in the Oval Office on May 6 that his country is “not for sale,” despite the president’s repeated proposals to annex the northern neighbor as a 51st state. The two met to discuss tariffs and border security, although Trump said he didn’t expect to change his import duties.
Sparks flew on Capitol Hill, too, as the House Appropriations Committee began reviewing Trump’s budget blueprint for the year starting Oct. 1.
Trump would like to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and simply provide disaster grants to the states, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Her confirmation of Democratic suspicions came after Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, said “disasters happen everywhere” and argued the federal government needs to respond.
DeLauro also criticized Noem for running a multi-million ad campaign promoting tougher border security that the lawmaker called GOP “propaganda.” But Noem said Trump proposed the ads himself and insisted she appear in them.
In another congressional hearing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the country is in a recession despite the economy shrinking during the first three months of the year. He cited a surprising jobs report.
Bessent acknowledged the country’s $36 trillion in debt “scary.” But he said he would prevent it from becoming unsustainable, with “a sudden stop in the economy as the credit would disappear.”
Here are some highlights from a day of high-stakes meetings:
Carney says Trump 'wish' for Canada to become a U.S. state is not 'reality'
At a press conference after his White House visit ended, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Trump has made known his "wish" for the U.S. to acquire Canada for some time.
"I've been careful always to distinguish between wish and reality. I was clear there, in the Oval Office, as I've been clear throughout on behalf of Canadians that this is never going to happen," Carney said during a visit to his country's embassy near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
After Carney said at the White House during the televised meeting that some things are never for sale, the Canadian leader told reporters that Trump said he agreed with him.
As for tariffs, Carney said the two countries would continue to discuss trade. He said the talks were "complex" and would not offer details.
Carney said that he did raise privately the "considerable" efforts Canada has made to reduce fentanyl trafficking, as well as investments in drone surveillance and an increase in border guards. "It is an absolute focus of the government," he said. "That is an example of where we would see the case being very strong for the tariffs to be removed."The prime minister said it is also the Canadian government's view that tariffs are not in the interest of American jobs and competitiveness."We have more work to do in making those cases," he acknowledged. - Francesca Chambers
Trump’s US steel goals won’t happen in ‘a snap,’ Canadian trade leader says
President Trump’s goal of not wanting to use Canadian steel won’t come so easily − or quickly, Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, told Paste BN.
The U.S. imports more steel from Canada than any other country, about six million tons annually, no small figure, Cobden contends, despite Trump’s pointed comments during his meeting on May 6 with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We’re making our own steel and we’re having massive steel plants being built as we speak,” Trump told reporters. “We don’t want Canadian steel and aluminum and various other things because we want to be able to do it ourselves.”
While “Trump’s vision is a laudable goal” in the long term, Cobden said it’s not achievable in the short term. “Replacing six million tons is a big gap and it won’t be filled at the snap of a finger,” Cobden said. “These large-scale matters take years, they don’t take days or months.”
Cobden said Canada is still sending steel to the U.S. despite the two countries’ 25% dueling tariffs on imported goods, and she admits it will be difficult to continue over the long haul. Yet, she remains optimistic that the trade war between the countries can be resolved.
“We need to see the tariffs removed from both sides in order to continue this partnership,” Cobden said. “We hope a deal can get done soon.”
– Terry Collins
Carney departs White House
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney departed the White House a little more than two hours after her arrived.
After their Oval Office meeting, where the leaders fielded questions from journalists on tariffs and Trump's bid to acquire Canada, they continued talks in private. Trump and Carney also sat down to lunch. - Francesca Chambers
Trump says he has not met with the Chinese to discuss tariffs
President Donald Trump acknowledged that he has not talked with the Chinese government about striking a trade deal, despite previously suggesting that he had.
Trump made the admission after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified on May 6 that trade negotiations between the U.S. and China over tit-for-tat tariffs had not taken place.
"They want to meet. And they're doing not business right now," Trump said.
Trump told reporters "we're losing nothing" by not trading with China. "We'll be meeting with them at the right time," he said.
Asked directly if he'd met with the Chinese, he said he had not. "I have not met with them no, of course, you would know if I'd met. I'd tell you."
Trump said China is "suffering greatly" from the trade war. - Francesca Chambers
Trump: Obama library a 'disaster'
President Donald Trump detoured away from his meeting with Canada's prime minister to offer to help former President Barack Obama build his library in Chicago.
Trump, who was a New York-based real estate mogul in his private life, was talking about the difficulties of construction when he took a detour to take jabs at his predecessor’s troubled project.
"President Obama -- and if he wanted help, I'd give him help because I'm a really good builder and I build on time, on budget -- he's building his library in Chicago, and it's a disaster,” Trump said.
The Obama library is being built as a tribute to the former president but has been besieged by significant delays and going over budget. Its initial cost of $350 million has ballooned to $830 million, for instance.
Trump then went further, however, by arguing the Obama library's woes were due to its emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices.
“And (Obama) said something to the effect of 'I only want DEI. I only want woke.' He wants woke people to build it,” Trump added. “Well, he's got woke people.”
Earlier this year, a racial discrimination lawsuit by a Black-owned contractor who worked on the center.
"Everyone who sees the Obama Presidential Center is blown away by its beauty, scale and the way it will be an economic engine for Chicago and a beacon of hope for the world," Obama Foundation spokeswoman Emily Bittner told Paste BN in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming all visitors to the 19.3-acre campus next spring, to experience a presidential center that not only honors the Obamas’ legacy but also lifts up the next generation of leaders."
– Phillip M. Bailey
Carney to Trump: Canada is ‘not for sale’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told President Donald Trump that Canada is “not for sale” as the two men kicked off their bilateral meeting just weeks after Carney’s election victory.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney said to Trump. “Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it's not for sale. It won't be for sale ever."
“The opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together,” Carney added.
Carney’s comments came after Trump told reporters he still believes Canada would be better off being part of the United States.
“I still believe that, but it takes two to tango, right?” Trump said. “I mean, I believe it would be a massive tax cut for the Canadian citizens. You get free military, you get tremendous medical cares and other things. There would be a lot of advantages.”
Carney began his remarks by thanking Trump for his hospitality and leadership.” You're a transformational president,” Carney said, point to Trumps “focus on the economy, with a relentless focus on the American worker.”
– Joey Garrison
Trump tells Carney he’s ‘probably the greatest thing’ that happened to him
President Donald Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that he was “probably the greatest thing that happened to him” as the two leaders kicked off a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office.
“But I can't take full credit," Trump said. “His party was losing by a lot, and he ended up winning. So, I really want to congratulate him with probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.”
In his recent election victory, the Liberal Party’s Carney was able to seize on Trump’s rhetoric targeting Canada, including his hopes to make Canada the “51st state” to catapult him to victory after trailing considerably in polls.
– Joey Garrison
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DHS border security ads GOP ‘propaganda’: Democrat
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, blasted a Department of Homeland Security ad campaign to promote immigration enforcement as “propaganda ads” for Republicans. But DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Trump proposed the ad campaign because he was confident news reporters wouldn’t cover tougher enforcement.
“This sounds like a payout to Republican political consultants,” DeLauro said of the campaign she said cost $200 million, a figure Noem disputed. “It’s really kind of the height of arrogance.”
Noem had told the Conservative Political Action Conference that Trump directed her to make “beautiful ads” about the border and he wanted her face in them, thanking him.
“President Trump was very clear from the very beginning that he recognized the fake news in this country was not going to tell the truth of the work that had been done at the border to secure this country,” Noem told lawmakers on May 6. “The flow has stopped.”
– Bart Jansen
Trump ready to eliminate FEMA: Noem
President Donald Trump would like to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and instead provide grants to states to handle disasters, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told lawmakers.
The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, questioned Trump’s plan for the embattled agency after his budget proposed to cut $644 million in FEMA grants.
“Federal disaster relief should be readily available across the United States, regardless of where you live,” DeLauro said. “Natural disasters happen everywhere.”
DeLauro argued that states couldn’t handle disasters on their own. But Noem said Trump proposed to provide states with federal grants rather than the bureaucracy.
“He believes that FEMA and its response in many, many circumstances has failed the American people, and that FEMA as it exists today should be eliminated,” Noem said.
DeLauro asked for evidence of FEMA’s failure. Noem said the agency still has claims open from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and from fire claims a decade ago.
“What the president has said is he’s sick and tired of federal agencies that pick and choose who wins and who loses,” Noem said.
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Florida, said his state has been hit with many hurricanes and “frustration levels are off the chart” because FEMA payments lag for years while cities and states pay interest on disaster costs.
“It’s not that FEMA shows up and everything’s OK,” Rutherford said. “It’s quite the contrary, actually.”
– Bart Jansen
Trump says he wants to maintain 'friendship' with Canada before Carney meeting
President Donald Trump suggested in a post on Truth Social that he will ask Ottawa to increase its defense spending and close a trading gap with the United States but would not push a controversial plan to annex the country when he meets with Canada’s prime minister.
“I very much want to work with him, but cannot understand one simple TRUTH — Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?” Trump wrote.
Trump argued ahead of the meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney that the U.S. does not need Canadian energy and goods. “We don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain,” he said.
– Francesca Chambers
No cost estimate yet for Trump’s military parade
Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, questioned the federal cost for security at Trump’s planned military parade on June 14, which coincides with the Army’s 250th anniversary and the president’s 79th birthday.
Underwood said plans call for a full military presence crossing the Potomac River from the Pentagon to Constitution Avenue. Because DHS declared it a national security event, costs will be covered by the government, she said.
Underwood asked how much the parade would cost and whether the government will hold parades for the anniversaries of military branches that aren’t on Trump’s birthday.
“I can get those details and get back to you. I don’t have them with me today,” Noem said.
– Bart Jansen
GOP lawmakers press on with immigration enforcement of agricultural workers
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, said agricultural interests in his state rely on migrant labor and asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for more details about Trump’s plan to allow undocumented immigrants to return after voluntarily returning to their home countries.
“I can’t overstate the importance as you know of agriculture labor to produce food and fiber for our country,” he said.
Noem replied that Trump believes immigrants who are in the U.S. unlawfully “need to face consequences and go home.” But she said if those immigrants deport themselves, they could eventually return legally.
“They have to opportunity to come back then and to do it the right way,” Noem said.
Newhouse also said a major cattle producer in Washington and Idaho voiced concern about Noem’s attempt – which a federal judge temporarily blocked – to terminate a program allowing Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to live and work in the U.S. temporarily. Newhouse said 15% of the cattle producer’s workforce is from those countries.
Noem said there is some flexibility in providing visas for agricultural workers but that Congress sets caps on types of visas granted in different categories.
– Bart Jansen
Bessent: Growth and cutting spending are key to avoiding "scary" debt levels
Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-North Carolina, asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent when the U.S. debt levels would no longer be sustainable.
Bessent said it is "difficult to pinpoint" the exact moment, but said it "would look like a sudden stop in the economy as the credit would disappear as markets would lose confidence."
"I'm committed to that not happening," he said.
The debt is "scary," he said, but the key will be reducing spending while growing GDP.
GDP contracted during the first quarter of the year, and Republicans in Congress are currently working on a bill that non-partisan experts estimate could add around $5.8 trillion to the deficit.
Edwards asked: When is the tipping point?
"What the market is more concerned about is a trajectory. Are you on a trajectory that is unsustainable or are you bending the curve?" Bessent said, adding that the goal is to use both growth and spending restraint to solve the problem.
– Riley Beggin
Tariffs to top Canadian PM visits with Trump
Tariffs will be at the top of the agenda as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House.
Trump put a 25% tariff on Canadian goods that are not covered by a trade agreement between the two countries and Mexico in March. A lesser 10% tariff is in place on Canadian energy and potash.
The tariffs and an ongoing push from Trump to make the neighboring nation part of the U.S. have sparked a bitter dispute between Washington and Ottawa. Canada is one of the United States’ closest military allies and largest trading partners.
Trump has said the tariffs are necessary to close the trade gap between the U.S. and Canada and a way to make the neighboring country pay more for its defense. In assessing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico earlier this year, Trump also pushed for a crackdown on fentanyl tracking and illegal migration into the United States.
Carney is visiting the White House for the first time since he became prime minister in mid-March. He won a hard-fought campaign to keep the job at the end of April.
He succeeded former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the position.
– Francesca Chambers
Some countries refuse to accept deportees: Noem
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Florida, praised Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for coordinating immigration enforcement with state and local law enforcement but questioned why other countries are refusing to accept deported immigrants.
The department has 598 agreements spanning 6,200 officers in groups such as state police and county sheriffs to track down and arrest undocumented immigrants, Noem said.
But Rutherford asked about 1.2 million immigrants with removal orders who are from countries that won’t accept them. Noem said the State Department negotiates travel documents but that some countries, such as Mexico, limit the number of flights or people they will accept.
“There are some countries that are refusing to take back their own citizens,” Noem said.
– Bart Jansen
Bessent: U.S. economy not in a recession
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House subcommittee in charge of the Treasury Department's budget, asked Secretary Scott Bessent whether he believes that the U.S. is currently in a recession.
"I believe in data, and there is nothing in the data that shows that we are in a recession," Bessent responded. "As a matter of fact, the jobs report has surprised to the upside."
However, economic reports released last week indicated that U.S. GDP contracted during the first quarter.
Bessent argued that the numbers could be revised and that he expects they will be changed after looking at a detailed analysis.
– Riley Beggin
Treasury Secretary: U.S. on 'warning track' for debt default
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, a member of the House Appropriations panel, asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent when the "x-date" is, the date by which the U.S. would default on its debt if the debt ceiling is not raised.
Bessent said his agency is still tallying total revenues from tax day in mid-April.
But "we are on the warning track," he said. "And when you're on the warning track, it means the wall's not far away."
However, he assured members that the U.S. government will "never default" and that they will raise the debt ceiling.
Raising the debt ceiling is included in the massive party-line bill Republicans in Congress are working on to implement Trump's agenda. Lawmakers hope to pass it by July 4.
– Riley Beggin
Trump in trade talks with 17 of largest 18 partners - not China: Bessent
Rep. David Joyce, R-Pa., the subcommittee chairman, asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent what Americans can expect to see on tariffs a year from now.
“This will be path dependent on our trading partners,” Bessent said.
Bessent also said the administration is negotiating with 17 of the country’s 18 largest trading partners. The one country the Trump administration has not engaged with is China.
Those negotiations are “proceeding very well,” he said, adding that many of those countries have approached the U.S. with “very good offers.”
“So I expect that we can see a substantial reduction in the tariffs that we are being charged, as well as non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation and the subsidies of both labor and capital investment,” Bessent said.
– Riley Beggin
Trump ignoring spending decisions by Congress ‘unprecedented’: Democrat
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, criticized the Trump administration for ignoring spending decisions that Congress made.
“The Trump administration’s actions have pushed us to unprecedented and to a sobering moment,” Underwood said. “America is a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
Noem said the department was evaluating which grants were appropriate.
“We have evaluated grants to make sure they were authorized appropriately,” Noem said.
Underwood told DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was spending more than approved under the “risky” strategy of counting on Congress to make up the difference later this year.
“DHS is cashing checks it simply doesn’t have,” Underwood said.
– Bart Jansen
Bessent aims to dramatically cut IRS costs
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service spent around $450 million on paper processing last year.
Through "policy changes and automation," the administration aims to reduce that expense to under $20 million, he said.
The hearing is Bessent's first public appearance on Capitol Hill since President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs.
Bessent argued that the administration's policies are already "bearing fruit," including adding 464,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.
– Riley Beggin
Lutnick skeptical of trade deal with ‘socialist’ Canada
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voiced skepticism about President Donald Trump reaching a trade deal with what he called the “socialist regime” of Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on the eve of their first meeting.
“I think it’s really complex,” Lutnick told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow on May 5. “They have their socialist regime, and it’s basically feeding off of America.”
Canada sold about $63 billion more to the U.S. in goods and services in 2024 than it bought, according to the Census Bureau. Trump imposed 25% tariffs on the value of imports from Canada, but exempted items negotiated under a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that expires in 2026.
“It’s going to be a fascinating meeting,” Lutnick said. “I just don’t see how it works out so perfectly.”
– Bart Jansen
DHS draws spotlight to immigration enforcement
Despite steep cuts to other domestic programs, Trump proposed to spend $43.8 billion more on DHS in the next year, as part of a $175 billion boost over four years.
Trump told reporters May 5 that his administration is deporting undocumented immigrants by the thousands but that “it’s a very difficult thing with the courts.” Judges temporarily blocked removals under the Alien Enemies Act and ordered him to “facilitate” the return of a Salvadoran immigrant who was deported through an administration error.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who carries out the immigration policy, is set to testify at 10 a.m. EDT at a House Appropriations subcommittee. Noem on May 5 began offering migrants $1,000 stipends and free plane tickets to deport themselves.
Tariffs and IRS enforcement
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been a prominent defender of Trump’s tariffs. But Bessent said privately in April that Trump’s 145% tariffs on China aren’t sustainable, and the president has said he expects to negotiate lower figures.
In another vein, Trump’s budget aims to cut the department’s budget 19%, mostly from a nearly $2.5 billion cut to the Internal Revenue Service. After Trump has gone through a handful of IRS directors, the budget said the cut would end the weaponization of the agency that allegedly targeted conservative groups and small businesses while protecting taxpayer services.
Bessent is set to testify at 10 a.m. EDT before another House Appropriations subcommittee.
Trump and Carney to discuss US relations with Canada
Carney's first visit to the White House after winning his election comes at an uneasy time when Trump has threatened the longstanding alliance of the countries with a trade war over imports.
But after repeatedly proposing to annex Canada as a new state, Trump softened his stance. He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on May 4 that he doesn’t envision using military force.
"I don’t see it with Canada,” Trump said with a laugh. “I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you.”
Carney, for his part, has said decades of steady integration with the U.S. since World War II are over. Liberals, who had been in power for more than nine years, were behind in polls in January before the previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced he was quitting and Trump proposed tariffs and annexation.