Stop doing memes and throwing shade, Carney tells Trump

What the report says

Mark Carney, Canada’s Liberal leader and the country’s newly elected prime minister, used his first foreign trip after the election to press for a more serious tone in relations with the United States. According to Sky News World, he directly told Donald Trump to stop “doing memes,” “throwing shade,” and trying to project toughness, a remark that captured the sharper edge of the Canadian leader’s message.

The exchange comes against a wider backdrop of strained Canada-U.S. ties, with trade, tariffs and political rhetoric continuing to shape the relationship. Carney’s comments were aimed at signaling that Ottawa wants a more constructive and less performative style of engagement from Washington. The article places the moment in the context of Carney’s early efforts to define his leadership on the international stage.

Sky News World’s report suggests the comments were meant to be both a rebuke and an opening: a public call for Trump to move away from online provocation and toward practical dialogue. For Canada, the issue matters because the United States is its largest trading partner and a central diplomatic counterpart, making the tone of talks between the two leaders especially important.

More broadly, the episode reflects how political communication on both sides of the border increasingly blends social-media style messaging with traditional diplomacy. That makes even brief public remarks politically significant, especially when they are delivered at the start of a new government’s relationship with the White House.