U.S. President Donald Trump says he will discuss trade with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as the three leaders gather in one place for the first time ever after nearly a year of uncertainty over the future of free trade on the continent, ahead of next year’s mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Carney landed in Washington, D.C., late Friday morning to participate in the FIFA Men’s World Cup draw ceremony.
“We’re going to meet with both and we’re getting along very well. We’re getting along very well. I don’t know, I think we have a meeting set up for some time after the event,” Trump told reporters on the red carpet ahead of the draw.
“Yeah, we’re going to discuss trade,” Trump said when asked if the three leaders will be discussing trade.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino hold up country names during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin).
Supermodel Heidi Klum and actor Kevin Hart kicked off the ceremony at noon. The draw will decide the 104 World Cup matchups to be played across the continent. Canada will play host to 13 games, marking the first time the prestigious global soccer tournament is played on Canadian soil.
Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney were seen shaking hands with Trump ahead of the event.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney pose for photographers as he arrives for the FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld.
The draw will divide the 48-team field into 12 groups of four, designated Group A, Group B … and so on, down to Group L. Balls corresponding with the competing countries will be separated into four pots of 12, and each group will include one team drawn from each pot.
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The tournament will overlap with the CUSMA review that’s expected to begin in July.
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The Prime Minister’s Office said Carney will have a brief meeting with Trump at the Kennedy Center, where the World Cup event is being held. Sheinbaum said Wednesday it was not yet decided whether she would have a private meeting with the president.
The prime minister and the Mexican president are also set to meet Friday.
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While Trump’s tariffs have thrown North American trade policy into uncertainty, the exemption handed out to Canada and Mexico on CUSMA-compliant goods has cushioned both nations against the worst impacts.
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However, Trump has signalled recently that he is open to letting the deal expire.
The deal, which he was instrumental in negotiating in 2018 and is referred to as CUSMA in Canada and USMCA in the United States, is up for review next year.
“It expires in about a year, and we’ll either let it expire, or we’ll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Wednesday, when asked about the future of the deal.
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Canada and Mexico had “taken advantage” of the U.S., Trump said.
“Mexico and Canada have taken advantage of the United States. It’s like just about every other country, in all fairness, it’s not them. I’m not blaming them. But every country because we had stupid people running our country,” Trump said.
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The deal was signed during Trump’s first term in office and in 2020. After signing the deal, he praised the trade agreement.
“It’s the best agreement we’ve ever made,” Trump had said at the time.
In October, Trump cut off all trade talks with Canada over what he called an “egregious” television ad featuring former U.S. president Ronald Reagan paid for and run by the Ontario government on American television networks.
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