Carney Warns U.S. Is Trying to ‘Break’ Canada as Trump Revives ‘51st State’ Threat

U.S.

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit, in Evian, France, on June 16, 2026. —Evelyn Hockstein—Getty Images Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday warned that the United States is trying to sow discord as he urged Albertans not to vote for a separation referendum.

“The stakes are high.

This referendum, it comes at the worst possible time.

The world has become more dangerous and divided,” Carney said at a rally in Calgary, Alberta, ahead of Monday’s vote, which will see residents decide whether the oil-rich province should hold a referendum on Alberta’s independence from Canada.

“There are some outside our borders who are working to break us, so they can own us.” While Carney didn’t explicitly name the U.S., the remarks echoed his previously warnings of the dangers of American dominance.

Carney's statement came after U.S.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday revisited his ambitions to annex Canada, telling the crowd at a rally in Arizona that the country will “end up being the 51st state, because it's the only way it works.” Trump again accused Canada of treating the U.S.

“very badly” and vowed he won’t allow it to happen anymore as “it’s a whole different ballgame now [that] Trump is in town.” The U.S. and Canada remain in a contentious trade standoff after negotiations collapsed in August.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs came into effect last month, matching the economic pressure imposed by the U.S.

Carney has encouraged Canadians to band together and take back their economic power by choosing Canadian products over those made in the U.S.

The trade tussle comes after months of Trump repeatedly threatening Canada’s sovereignty—a move that has stoked tensions between the U.S.

Administration and Canadian officials.

In light of Trump’s most recent remarks about possible annexation, Canada’s former deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said it would be dangerous to deepen or maintain close economic ties with a neighbor that “openly says they want to take you over.” Carney admitted last month in an interview with the New York Times that he had studied the risk of a U.S. invasion given Trump’s charged rhetoric.