WASHINGTON — Democrat lawmakers in the United States applauded the Liberals’ election win under Mark Carney on Tuesday — while most Republican lawmakers stayed silent about an election campaign that turned into a rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump’s taunts and tariffs.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal party on their success in Canada’s election,” former president Joe Biden posted on social media. “I’m confident Mark will be a strong leader for the fundamental values and interests Canadians and Americans share.”
With a daunting lead in the polls, the Conservatives under leader Pierre Poilievre looked to be in line for a majority win not long ago — before Trump’s return to the White House upended Canadian politics.
Trump first threatened last November to impose economywide tariffs on Canada, linking the duties to the illegal flow of people and deadly fentanyl across the border. U.S. government data shows a very small volume of drugs cross the U.S.-Canada border but Ottawa responded with a boosted security plan.
The looming tariffs were accompanied by Trump’s repeated calls for Canada to become a U.S. state and his habit of referring to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “governor.”
Trump ultimately went ahead with the duties last month, before partially walking them back a few days later. Trump also implemented tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum.
Trudeau announced his resignation in January, triggering a rapid race to choose a new Liberal leader. Carney, a two-time central banker and political neophyte, became prime minister briefly before calling the election.
Trump continued to goad Canadians as Carney and Poilievre each made their pitch to lead the country through an unprecedented crisis in relations with its most important ally and trade partner.
Poilievre was unable to shake claims that he had aped Trump’s policies and style. When Carney killed the consumer carbon tax, the Conservative leader lost one of his most valuable points of attack on the Liberals.
In a statement issued Tuesday, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the election “does not affect President Trump’s plan to make Canada America’s cherished 51st state.”
Many Democrats took the Canadian election result as a much-needed win as Trump attempts to realign global trade and alienates longtime American allies.
Jim Himes, a Democratic congressman for Connecticut, posted on social media that he went to school with Carney.
“If I had said to him, ‘Mark, someday Donald Trump will be President of the United States, and he is single-handedly going to make you Prime Minister of Canada,’ he would have called campus security to take me home,” Himes said.
Democrat Rep. Don Beyer posted that Carney will lead with “grit and grace,” while Democrat Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet sent their congratulations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on social media that “California looks forward to strengthening our partnership with our northern neighbours — advancing a clean economy, expanding trade (and) building a stable future for Canadians (and) Californians.”
Former U.S. ambassador to Canada David Cohen praised Carney and the Liberals for achieving an “unusual fourth mandate to govern.” He said Canada gave Carney a clear mandate to “rationally and forcefully” take on Trump and “his ill-advised tariff ‘policies’ and anti-Canadian rhetoric.”
There was little sign on social media that Republican lawmakers and governors were weighing in on the Canadian election. Among the outliers was Rep. Don Bacon from Nebraska, who told POLITICO that the Liberals were “losing big until our president kept mocking Canadians, our neighbours and close friends.”
“He made Canadian Liberals great again,” Bacon said.
Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as communications director in the first Trump administration before becoming one of the president’s most vocal critics, posted this on social media: “The best that Trump did in 100 days: Mark Carney.”
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
