White House official Stephen Miller says U.S. President Donald Trump has helped to secure a new trade and defence relationship with Canada, following the first meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“President Trump has opened up a completely new relationship with Canada because of his strength and because of his diplomacy,” Miller said during an interview with Fox News on May 7.
Miller serves as United States homeland security advisor and White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
Miller said Canada is “finally” discussing increasing military spending to meet the NATO requirement of 2 percent of GDP on defence, “so they’re not a free rider with the United States anymore.”
He also highlighted that Carney “acknowledged the need to strike a fairer trade deal with the United States” and that Ottawa is taking additional steps to secure the Canada-U.S. border and reduce illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
“It’s just one concrete win after another because of President Trump’s leadership on this issue,” Miller said, “We want friendship with Canada, but we also insist upon and demand fairness from Canada.”
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Carney met with Trump in the White House on May 6 to discuss ending the trade dispute between the two countries. Canada introduced retaliatory measures after Trump imposed various sets of tariffs on Canada.
Following the meeting, Carney told reporters the event marked the “end of the beginning of a process of the United States and Canada redefining that relationship of working together.” Carney said there would be more meetings held in the coming weeks, but could not say when the tariffs might be taken off of Canada.
During the White House meeting, Carney said Trump had “revitalized international security” and encouraged more NATO members to meet their spending requirement. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said back in November 2024 that Canada would hit NATO’s defence spending target of 2 percent of GDP by 2032, while Carney’s government has said it will exceed the 2 percent goal by 2030.
Trump acknowledged in the meeting that Canada has been “stepping up the military participation.” The U.S. president has been highly critical of countries, including Canada, that do not meet the NATO requirement, at times calling them “delinquent” and questioning whether the United States should protect them from adversaries.
Carney also said during the meeting that Canada is focused on securing its borders and stopping fentanyl deaths and illegal immigration. Ottawa announced a $1.5 billion spending package for border security in late 2024, and has seen a reduction in illegal border crossings in the months since.
The 25 percent tariffs that the United States placed on Canada in March were related to fentanyl and illegal immigration at the Canada-U.S. border, which has resulted in Ottawa attempting to strengthen border measures and highlight its successes to Washington.
U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in March that Canada was not doing enough to tackle fentanyl labs in the country, and reiterated that the 25 percent tariffs are part of a “drug war,” and not a “trade war.”
Meanwhile, Trump has said the 25 percent tariffs on Canadian lumber, dairy, steel, aluminum, and vehicles are part of a trade strategy to increase domestic manufacturing and address unfair trade practices.
“We put tariffs on cars from Canada, and at a certain point it won’t make economic sense for Canada to build those cars,” Trump said in the White House on May 7. “We really don’t want Canadian steel, and we don’t want Canadian aluminum and various other things, because we want to be able to do it ourselves.”
