Canadian PM gets standing ovation for making honest remark about Trump situation

Mark Carney has been praised for a speech where he condemned the US’ latest global political moves and reflected on the future of the world.

Donald Trump and his administration has caused quite a stir over the last year, in his second stint in the White House. While the US leader has been known for cavalier actions, more recently he has frustrated and annoyed his country’s closest allies.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has recently been praised for addressing this tense atmosphere between the US and its counterparts during a speech at the annual World Economic Forum. The speech seemed to be so moving that the PM even received a standing ovation.

Without naming Trump, Carney addressed the US’ recent actions when it came to tariffs and the demands to annex Greenland.

In part, he said: “Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.

“Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration.

“But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.

“You cannot 'live within the lie' of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.

“The multilateral institutions on which middle powers have relied — the WTO, the UN, the COP — the very architecture of collective problem solving, are under threat.

“And as a result, many countries are drawing the same conclusions — that they must develop greater strategic autonomy: in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains.”

Throughout his speech, Carny admitted that the international rules are not perfect and are filled with issues but the current shifts indicate the world could be moving towards a more dire situation.

This speech *is* one for the history books. But that’s less a compliment, than a coda.

Carney has given us the words to mark the end of the ‘rules-based order’…by acknowledging it never really existed.

It was a collective illusion. That now is over. pic.twitter.com/H4gWysDBmH

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) January 20, 2026

He noted that while it might look appealing, nationalism across the globe can create a ‘world of fortresses’ that are ultimately ‘poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.’

On social media, videos of Carney’s speech have already begun circulating with many offering up praise and commenting on the fact it received a standing ovation.

Journalist Carole Cadwalladr called the speech ‘one for the history books'.

Writer and British consultant and strategist Alastair Campbell said: “Standing ovation for @MarkJCarney at Davos. (Those do not happen often). Brutally honest assessment of the situation Trump is creating for the world.”

Wall Street Journal’s Mike Bird also encouraged people to read Carney’s speech in full.