US President Donald Trump said he had an "extremely productive" first call Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, despite tensions over tariffs and Trump's recent calls to annex his northern neighbor.
Trump added that the two had agreed to meet soon after Canada's general election on April 28, which Carney called shortly after replacing Trump's nemesis Justin Trudeau two weeks ago.
"I just finished speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney, of Canada. It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said they would be "meeting immediately after Canada's upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada."
Trump's glowing post was a dramatic change in tone from recent rhetoric between Washington and Ottawa.
In a sign of the tensions, Carney had declared on Thursday that the era of deep economic, security and military ties between Canada and the United States "is over."
He had also vowed to retaliate against Trump's "unjustified" decision this week to slap steep tariffs on cars.
Trump's planned 25 percent levy on vehicle imports to the United States is to come into force next week and could be devastating for a Canadian auto industry that supports an estimated 500,000 jobs.
Carney also warned on Thursday that he would not participate in substantive trade negotiations with Washington until the president shows Canada "respect," particularly by ending his repeated annexation threats.
Trump has repeatedly said since returning to power in January that close NATO ally Canada should become the 51st US state.
The US president also warned Canada on Wednesday against working with the European Union to counter upcoming reciprocal tariffs on all imports that he is expected to announce next week.
If they did so, they would face "large scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned," Trump warned.
Typically, a new Canadian leader makes a phone call with the US president an immediate priority but this was Trump and Carney's first contact since the Canadian took office on March 14.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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