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Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled back the curtain on his relationship with his American counterpart on Wednesday evening in Australia, saying it's not easy dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump and he must choose his words carefully to avoid any blowback.
Speaking at a think-tank question-and-answer session in Sydney on his Indo-Pacific tour, Carney said Trump is also somewhat different in private than he is in public and that there's room for a free flow of ideas when you sit down with him face to face.
Asked how he has navigated the relationship with the sometimes erratic Trump so far, Carney said: "Respect but not obsequiousness."
WATCH | Carney on dealing with Trump:In an armchair discussion at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked how he approaches the challenge of dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump. 'He is more interested in your viewpoint on various things in private and that creates an ability to work through things,' Carney said. 'But it's not easy, to be clear.'Carney said he has to recognize that Trump was duly elected and he's become "a very successful politician."
"Elected twice, he would say elected three times. He does."
Carney also said you can't speak about Trump off the cuff.
"I'm going to say something very honest, but it's important: You don't want to say anything in public that you can't back up.
"You've got to choose your words — one chooses language for the audience, that's true in any circumstance, and so careful in terms of the language you use with him," Carney said.
The prime minister said Trump is open to hearing ideas and solicits opinions from those he speaks with.
"It's quite different in private," Carney said.
"And that creates an ability to work through things, but it's not easy, let's be clear."
When the moderator of the Q&A mentioned Carney's standing ovation at this year's World Economic Forum, the prime minister playfully said Trump's "was bigger," a nod to the president's fixation on crowd size and reaction.
Carney's comments come days after he backed the U.S. airstrikes on Iran to wipe out the country's nuclear weapons program — a position he nuanced slightly when speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday. Carney said Canada wants a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
WATCH | 'You can't do that forever': Carney on Trump's use of economic leverage:In an armchair discussion at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked what U.S. President Donald Trump's actions mean for the U.S. position in the world long-term. Carney, who sidestepped parts of the question, offered an 'adjacent' point, saying the eventual reaction by others would be to diversify and seek out other ties.When asked about Trump's reaction to Canada's agreement with the initial barrage of airstrikes on the Islamic republic, Carney said he hadn't spoken to the president since the war effort began.
Carney said he didn't take that position to curry favour with Trump or extract anything from the Americans.
"We took a position because we view the nuclear threat and the export of terrorism of Iran over decades as one of the gravest threats to international peace and security," he told reporters at a press conference.
"That is not us asking for something in exchange for that. None of that is true. That is just a straight-up position."
In a more relaxed tone, Carney also used the f-word while telling a story from his time as a central banker.
Michael Fullilove, the executive director of the Lowy Institute who hosted the chat, asked whether central bankers or prime ministers have more fun. Carney chose central bankers, recalling “crazy” dinners and “good wine."
He told a story from when he was two weeks into his job as governor of the Bank of Canada in early 2008, during the collapse of U.S. investment bank Bear Sterns. Carney said that during a dinner with the G-10 central banks, the group had about an hour and a half to make a decision.
WATCH | Carney drops f-word in lighthearted anecdote:In a more relaxed moment during an armchair discussion at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, Prime Minister Mark Carney drops the f-word while telling a story from his time as Governor of the Bank of Canada. Carney was asked who has more fun between central bankers and prime ministers.He recalled being welcomed by the chair, a seven-course meal and being offered what the chair called “the best wine in Europe." However, Carney said the chair took a long time to list and detail every choice of wine.
“And he's like, ‘Well have this one, but you know, the pinot grigio,’ and I’m like f--k,” Carney said, laughing.
He said that after the wine discussion, there was one hour left to make the financial decisions. “An hour later, all I remember is, man the wine is fantastic,” he said.