The US president has changed his mind following a public spat with Prime Minister Mark Carney
US President Donald Trump has rescinded an invitation to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to join his ‘Board of Peace’, a new global body he hopes to make central to resolving world conflicts.
Trump invited dozens of heads of state to sit on the board, which he initially created to oversee the governance and reconstruction of Gaza as part of a UN-backed peace deal between Hamas and Israel.
A number of countries, however, refused to join, arguing that the board’s broad scope would come into conflict with the mandate of the UN.
Trump changed his mind about Canada’s participation following a public spat with the prime minister.
“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining what will be the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.
Trump has frequently clashed with Carney over tariffs and has suggested that Canada would be better off as the “51st state” of the US.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Trump argued that Canada “gets a lot of freebies” from the US.
“Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” Trump said.
Carney responded on Thursday, saying: “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian.” He said earlier in Davos that the world order built on “American hegemony” is “in the midst of a rupture.”
