WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told US President Donald Trump on Tuesday that his country would be “never for sale” as they met at the White House amid tensions on tariffs and sovereignty.

In their first Oval Office meeting, Trump insisted to the recently elected Carney that it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.

But afterward both leaders hailed the talks as having made progress — even if Carney said he had asked Trump in private to stop calling for Canada to join the United States.

“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told property tycoon Trump, comparing Canada to the Oval Office itself and to Britain’s Buckingham Palace.

“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign in the last several months, it’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever.”

Trump then replied: “Never say never.”

Liberal leader Carney, 60, won Canada’s 28 April election on a pledge to stand up to Republican Trump, 78, warning that ties between the North American neighbors could never be the same.

Trump has sparked a major trade war with Canada with his tariffs while repeatedly making extraordinary calls for the key North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally and major trading partner to become part of the US.

‘Very constructive’

Carney at points gripped his hands tightly together and his knee jiggled up and down while Trump spoke.

Trump, when asked if there was anything Carney could say in the meeting that would persuade him to drop tariffs, replied bluntly: “No. It’s just the way it is.”

The US president even referenced his blazing Oval Office row with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in February — if only to insist that there would be no repeat.

“We had another little blow-up with somebody else, that was much different — this is a very friendly conversation,” Trump said.

Yet after the two-hour meeting both leaders struck a positive tone.

Carney told a press conference that the trade talks were “complex” but that his two-hour discussions with Trump were “very constructive.”

“He’s willing to have that negotiation,” Carney said when asked if Trump would be ready to drop tariffs as part of a deal.

But he added that he had called on Trump to stop urging Canada to become its 51st state.

“I told him that it wasn’t useful to repeat this idea, but the president will say what he wants,” said Carney, speaking in French.

For his part, Trump said there was “no tension” during the “very great” meeting with Carney.

“We want to do what’s right for our respective peoples,” he said at an event on the 2026 World Cup, which the US will co-host with Canada and Mexico.