Carney provides a blueprint on how to deal with Trump

It is a measure of how greatly the return of Donald Trump to the White House has transformed the global diplomatic landscape that any national leader’s first meeting with the US president is now judged less by what was, or was intended to be, achieved than by how he or she did.

- MARY DEJEVSKY

By which is meant, how far the honoured visitor managed to hold their own at what has become a rite of initiation, sitting down in the Oval Office for half an hour of shouted media questions, moderated – if at all – by the president himself.

The risks are high because Trump, as host, practised performer and dominant character, has the upper hand – and because practically everyone, whether participant or spectator, will have a graphic worst-case scenario in their mind’s eye of the ambush that befell Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The latest Oval Office visitor, Canada’s newly elected prime minister, Mark Carney, can probably be counted as the most successful yet. This is despite his electoral victory having largely rested on his defence of Canada’s sovereignty and fierce criticism of Donald Trump’s claims that Canada should become the 51st US state.

But Carney brought several advantages to his dealings with Trump. English is his first language. Although a political novice, he comes to office with considerable international experience in business and banking worlds that Trump regards as his natural habitat.

Temperamentally, Carney combines a smooth diplomatic manner with a determination to stand his ground. Some awkward body language on his part betrayed how his Oval Office initiation tested his patience, as he struggled to get a word in edgeways. When he did speak, though, he got his point across that Canada’s status as an independent country was nonnegotiable. “Never say never,” said Trump. “Never,” was Carney’s response.