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Carney hits back at Trump officials' taunts as Liberals win three special elections

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized the Trump administration for 'doing memes' and 'throwing shade' amid trade tensions, following Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's remarks about Canada's military. The comments came as Carney's Liberal Party swept three special elections.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 2h ago

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday criticized the Trump administration for "doing memes" and "throwing shade" against his nation, responding to a reporter's question about S. officials mocking Canada's military and President Donald Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario as "Lake America."

Carney said there is a "positive opportunity that has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty," including Canada's right to protect and promote Quebec's culture and the French language. "When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions," he said. He added that the actions are "not constructive," but acknowledged, "that's their democracy."

Asked about S. Cabinet secretaries insulting the Canadian military, Carney said, "It's beneath their office."

The prime minister's remarks came a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked Canada and its military during an interview with CNBC at the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina. Asked whether the United States is in a "tit-for-tat trade war with Canada," Bessent replied, "Well, I don't think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who's 13 times larger than you are." He also said, "I think this is very unfortunate that Prime Minister Carney has turned this into ... a political shouting match," and questioned, "I mean, we're not at war with Canada. How are we going to be at war with Canada? They're going to take their two set submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X a message with a Canadian flag emoji and the words "(this is real)" above a photo of a female cadet receiving a medal at the Vernon Cadet Training Center from a female instructor. The post was widely perceived by users who replied as body-shaming the instructor. X user Danny O'Reagan, who identified himself as a Canadian military veteran, wrote that the Secretary of Defence was "body shaming cadet groups. A youth group. This is not a military unit. They are kids looking for adventure, test themselves and align themselves with the values of service."

These latest jabs come amid a rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two longtime allies. Carney suspended trade negotiations with Washington in August, saying last-minute S. demands were "unfair" and "uneconomic." President Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods and ordered the S. government to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America," a move Canadian officials have rejected.

Meanwhile, Canadian voters appeared to support Carney's approach, with the Liberals winning all three special elections held in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia on Monday.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

CNBC

Framing: Headline emphasizes Carney's criticism of the Trump administration, using the phrase 'slaps' and quoting Carney's 'doing memes ... throwing shade'.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration for 'doing memes' and 'throwing shade' against his nation amid a growing trade war.
Carney's comments came in response to a reporter's question about Trump officials mocking Canada's military in social media posts and comments, and President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario 'Lake America.'
Carney said there is a 'positive opportunity that has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty' and which respects Canada's right to protect and promote Quebec's culture and the French language.
Carney: 'When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions' about trade.
Carney said, 'It's beneath their office,' when asked about Trump Cabinet secretaries insulting the Canadian military.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked Canada and its military during an interview with CNBC at the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina.
Bessent replied, 'Well, I don't think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who's 13 times larger than you are.'
Bessent: 'I think this is very unfortunate that Prime Minister Carney has turned this into a political shouting match.'
Bessent: 'They're going to take their two set submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us.'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X a message with a Canadian flag emoji and the words '(this is real)' above a photo of a female cadet receiving a medal at the Vernon Cadet Training Center from a female instructor.
The tweet was widely perceived by users who replied to this post as Hegseth body-shaming the instructor.
X user Danny O'Reagan, who identified himself as a Canadian military veteran, wrote: 'The Secretary of Defence is body shaming cadet groups. A youth group. This is not a military unit. They are kids looking for adventure, test themselves and align themselves with the values of service.'

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Newsweek

Framing: Highlights Trump administration mocking Canada's military while noting voters support for Carney

as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Trump administration officials mocked Canada and its military capabilities on Monday
Canadian voters handed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party a sweep in three special elections
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the prospect of a 'tit-for-tat' trade war with a country whose economy he said was 13 times smaller than that of the United States
Bessent accused Carney of turning the dispute into a 'political shouting match'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image on X that appeared to be associated with the Royal Canadian Army cadets
Hegseth added a Canadian flag emoji and the words 'this is real'
Carney suspended trade negotiations with Washington in August, saying last-minute U.S. demands were 'unfair' and 'uneconomic'
Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods
Trump ordered the U.S. government to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America'
Liberals won all three special elections held in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimTrump administration officials mocked Canada and its military capabilities on Monday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
ClaimCanadian voters handed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party a sweep in three special elections.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
ClaimTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the prospect of a 'tit-for-tat' trade war with a country whose economy he said was 13 times smaller than that of the United States.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC, CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimBessent accused Carney of turning the trade dispute into a 'political shouting match'.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC, CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image on X that appeared to be associated with the Royal Canadian Army cadets, accompanied by a Canadian flag emoji and the words 'this is real'.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC, CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimCarney suspended trade negotiations with Washington in August, saying last-minute U.S. demands were 'unfair' and 'uneconomic'.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
ClaimTrump imposed 50 percent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
ClaimTrump ordered the U.S. government to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America'.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC, CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimCanadian voters delivered a sweep for the Liberals in three special elections held in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
ClaimCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Trump administration was 'doing memes' and 'throwing shade' amid the trade dispute.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimCarney's comments came in response to a reporter's question about Trump officials mocking Canada's military and renaming Lake Ontario.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimCarney said there is a 'positive opportunity' for a mutually beneficial trade deal with the United States that respects Canada's sovereignty and its right to protect its culture and language.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimCarney said the Trump administration's actions are 'not constructive' but that it is their democracy.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimHegseth's tweet was widely perceived by users as body-shaming the instructor.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC
ClaimX user Danny O'Reagan, who identified himself as a Canadian military veteran, said the Secretary of Defence was body-shaming cadet groups.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via CNBC as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: CNBC, Newsweek 15 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01