Trump takes center stage in Canada’s prime minister election debate

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President Donald Trump is the greatest challenge Canada is facing, Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a Wednesday night electoral debate with conservative challenger Pierre Poilievre.

“This election [is about] the question of who will succeed, and who will face up to Trump,” Carney said in French, according to a Reuters translation.

His comments came in retort to Poilievre, who moments prior, had accused him of being too similar to Justin Trudeau, who stepped down from the top job earlier this year following a rapid decline in approval ratings. 

Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Canada, on March 27, 2025. (David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“We are in a crisis. The most serious crisis of our lives,” Carney reportedly added. “We have to react with strength, which will allow us to succeed with Trump.”

Carney, who was voted into the role by the governing Liberal Party last month in a landslide win, is believed to be the favored candidate to win the prime minister’s seat in a nationwide election later this month, though recent polling suggests polling margins could be narrowing.

Just prior to Trudeau’s exit, the Liberal Party was expected to take a nosedive in the federal election against Poiliervre’s Conservative Party – but Trump appears to have changed all that. 

Immense concern over a trade war with the U.S. and Trump’s threats to annex Canada as the 51st state have rallied support once again for the Liberal Party under Carney. 

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on April 9, 2025. (Getty Images)

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Reports suggest that Carney is now viewed as the candidate more equipped to take on the tough negotiations that Canada will face to ease the steep tariffs Trump implemented this year. 

Poilievre has also reportedly faced a drop in support for his Canada First message, which some reports suggest may be too similar a message to Trump’s America First agenda. 

The conservative candidate has also reportedly faced criticism within his own party for not responding fast enough to the threat posed by the U.S. president. 

Some reporting has suggested the race to be Canada’s next prime minister could be narrowing between Poilievre and Carney. 

Canadians concerned by cost-of-living tend to back Poilievere, according to a Politico report, while voters concerned with the economy and relations with the U.S. tend to back Carney.

Canada Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a news conference in Ottawa, on Dec. 1, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Poilievere has been in the political sphere since 2004, when he entered Canada’s Parliament.

Carney’s background is in running first the Bank of Canada in 2008 and then the Bank of England in 2013 – prompting some to believe he may be best suited to take on the financial crisis looming over Canada amid Trump’s tariff war. 

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.