Carney says he talked about Iran, NATO in wide

Carney says he talked about Iran, NATO in wide-ranging security call with Trump

Prime minister says call also covered Arctic defence

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump talked about NATO, Iran and the wider security situation in the Middle East on Wednesday in what the prime minister described as a "constructive conversation."

Speaking at a news conference heading into Parliament's summer break on Thursday, the prime minister said the president called him and the talks, at times, involved senior White House officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

A readout from the Prime Minister's Office, shortly after the conversation on Wednesday, referenced only the talks about NATO. The conversation happened on the same day as the Western alliance's secretary general, Mark Rutte, met Trump in the Oval Office in preparation for next month's leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey.

"We had a long discussion with him," said Carney, adding that only a portion of what they talked about related to NATO. "Some related to the situation in Iran and the broader Middle East, both current and structural issues. It was a very constructive conversation, those things we're working on together. I think those are best left till they come to fruition."

Carney: Trump 'called me' to discuss NATO and Iran

Canada and other allies have committed to defensive, independent maritime missions to conduct mine clearance and reassure commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed during the war with the United States and Israel. One of the long-term structural proposals Canada has been involved in includes the establishment of an independent Hormuz International Maritime Authority to prevent future economic blockades.

Additionally, Canada has been actively co-ordinating G7 pressure to ensure Iran doesn't stall verification of its uranium stockpile. It is pushing for comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to heavily damaged enrichment sites.

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Carney also revealed he spoke with Trump about how Canada is working with other NATO allies to secure the Arctic.

During the question and answer session with journalists, he underlined Canada's increase in defence investment and predicted that the country will be spending four per cent of the gross domestic product on defence by 2029 (2.5 per cent directly on the military and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure).

That's the year the alliance is scheduled to formally review the spending benchmark.

On Thursday, Rutte said alliance members are expected to unveil tens ​of billions ​of dollars in new defence-related ​contracts at ‌the ⁠Ankara summit, which takes place July 7-8.

Trump complained openly during his meeting with the secretary general about NATO's reluctance to support the U.S.-led war with Iran — remarks Rutte gently pushed back on.

"I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there with you," Rutte said during an awkward Oval Office exchange that included the secretary general showing Trump oversized spending charts.

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Stephen Saideman, who holds the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University, said despite Rutte's performance, there are signs allies are growing weary of the rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration.

"The Iran war has been absolutely awful for everybody and the alliance was not advised about it ahead of time," Saideman said. "Trump's demands to be extracted from his own mistake by having the Europeans fix the Strait of Hormuz for him, I don't know how far that's gonna go."

He pointed to the recent social media dust-up betweenTrump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She had been on cordial terms with the U.S. president until he insisted that Meloni had begged him to take a photo together — a claim she denied.

"She is a far-right politician," Saideman said. "She should get along with Trump. Yet, he antagonized her, bullying her. While the allies have done a fair amount of effort to try to soothe his fevered brow, there's only so much they can take.

"And if he pushes really hard, you may see some people pushing back because, not only are they human beings, but they all have audiences that absolutely loathe Donald Trump."

Senior reporter, defence and security

Murray Brewster is the senior defence writer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. He has covered the Canadian military and foreign policy from Parliament Hill for over a decade. Among other assignments, he spent a total of 15 months on the ground covering the Afghan war for The Canadian Press. Prior to that, he covered defence issues and politics for CP in Nova Scotia for 11 years and was bureau chief for Standard Broadcast News in Ottawa.