Mark Carney receives standing ovation for honest assessment of Trump situation

The Canadian PM has been praised for his speech.

In recent days, tensions between the US and its traditional allies have reached their highest level in decades after Donald Trump ramped up his threats towards Greenland.

This has happened at the same time as dozens of the world’s most powerful leaders and figures head to Davos for the annual World Economic Forum.

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On Tuesday, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney addressed the summit, where he delivered a stunningly frank assessment of a world with Trump as US president.

Carney told those in attendance that the “rules-based international order” was over, saying that the world was “in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”

He compared the current state of affairs to a situation where the “system’s power comes not from its truth, but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true.”

Carney continued: “For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We join its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability.

“And because of that, we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection. We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically, and we knew that international law applied with varied rigor, depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.

“This fiction was useful, and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.

“So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works.”

In a clear reference to Trump’s America, Carney said “great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons,” “tariffs as leverage” and “financial infrastructures as coercion.”

He continued: “Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”

Carney’s speech received a rare standing ovation from those in attendance, the Toronto Star reports, whilst he was also widely praised online for his words.

Journalist Carole Cadwalladr labelled Carney’s speech as “one for the history books.”

In a post on X, Alastair Campbell praised Carney for his “brutally honest assessment of the situation.”

He wrote: “Standing ovation for @MarkJCarney at Davos. (Those do not happen often). Brutally honest assessment of the situation Trump is creating for the world and the new approach middle powers now need to take. One of those speeches worth reading in full.”

This was echoed by the Wall Street Journal’s Mike Bird, who urged people to read Carney’s speech.