Trump Meets Canada’s New Prime Minister 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Learn English With The News

In this lesson we'll read a news article  together so you can improve all areas of  

your English. You'll expand your vocabulary, learn  advanced grammar, and improve your pronunciation  

at the same time. And this article discusses  a current event, the first meeting between.

Donald Trump and Canada's new Prime  Minister Mark Carney. Welcome back to  

JForrest English. Of course I'm Jennifer  now. Let's get started. Our headline  

Carney tells Trump Canada is not for sale.  President praises PM as a very good person.

First, let's look at tell and compare this to say.  

If I wanted to change this and use  say, but we have a person here.

Could I do that grammatically or would  something need to be done? What do you  

think? If you replace tell with say, you need to  add the preposition too. Carney says to Trump,  

Canada is not for sale, and I put  this part in quotations because this  

is the information coming out of Kearney's  mouth. Now, alternatively, you could say.

Carney says Canada is not for sale. So notice  

that different in structure.  You tell someone something.

So Carney tells someone, Trump, and the  something is Canada is not for sale. We say  

you can say something. Carney says Canada  is not for sale, this is the something,  

or you can say to someone something.  Carney says to Trump. So that's why  

you need that preposition here. I see a lot  of mistakes, so make sure you review this.

Now, the next part, President praises  PM. PM is short for Prime Minister,  

which is the title for the Canadian  representative. President praises PM  

as a very good person. So let's talk  about the use of this verb to praise.

Of course, when you praise, it means you express  admiration, approval, or support. For sentence  

structure, you can say someone praises, so  this is your verb to praise and you need to  

conjugate it. So here it's in this past simple.  The students praised now someone as something.

So the students praised Jennifer  as a great teacher. Thank you,  

thank you. And that's the  structure that's used here.  

So President Trump praises the Prime Minister  as and then something, so you need a noun,  

a very good person. So this is very positive  for the new Prime Minister of Canada.

Another very common structure is someone praises,  so same thing, conjugate your verb, someone, then  

you use the preposition 4, and you use a verb.  Now 4 is a preposition, so your verb needs to  

be an ING. The students praised Jennifer for being  a great teacher. This is a very common structure.

Now you can also just praise something. So  the students praised the English lesson. Wow,  

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Now let's keep reading the article.  Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada,  

Mark Carney. So remember I said, Prime  Minister, you can just shorten it to PM  

like we see here. Prime Minister of Canada,  Mark Carney, of course this man here,  

stepped into the lion's den Tuesday. OK, what do  you think this means? Stepped into the lion's den.

Well, of course, this isn't a  literal meaning. He did not enter,  

so that would be step into is when you enter a  location. So he did not enter a lion's den. So

This is a figurative meaning. And of course, a  lion's den is very dangerous, right? So if Mark  

Carney stepped into the lion's den, it means he  entered a dangerous or hostile situation. So Mark  

Carney stepped into the lion's den Tuesday for  his first face to face with his US counterpart.

Now notice here they didn't use the noun  meeting, first face to face meeting,  

because it's obvious that face to face  represents face to face meeting. And of  

course that represents an in-person meeting,  which is the opposite of a virtual meeting.

So if someone could ask you,  oh, is it a Zoom interview,  

which of course is a virtual interview.  And then you can reply back and say, no,  

it's face to face. No, it's face to face.  You could also say, no, it's in person. No,  

you don't have to add on, no, it's an in-person  interview because the context is obvious.

Yes. Now, you might be discussing something  with someone virtually, but then say, oh,  

we should discuss this face to face.  We should discuss this and then you  

can also add on in person, in person.  So you can use those as well and just  

not use the word meeting or interview  or whatever else the noun would be.

For his first face to face  with his US counterpart,  

so of course the counterpart to the Prime  Minister of Canada is the president of the  

United States of America. So that's what  this with his US counterpart represents  

a high stakes meeting that seemed to go well  with compliments exchanged on both sides. OK.

Let's talk about high stakes. This is  an adjective. It describes the meeting  

and it means that there's a lot to  gain or lose. So that represents  

high stakes. You hear this in many  different contexts, especially in

In crime movies or police movies, there's a  lot of high stakes negotiations or situations  

and a lot to do with politics is considered high  stakes. So a high stakes meeting that seemed to go

Well. First of all, to go well, you  should definitely have this in your  

vocabulary and notice the verb  here is go. So if you wanted to  

use this in different conjugations,  your verb go is what you conjugate.

A very common question you should have in your  vocabulary is how did the meeting go? Now instead  

of the meeting, it could be anything. How did  the interview go? How did the party go? How did  

the concert go? It can be anything, social  or professional. So how did the meeting go?

How would you answer this in a simple way?  You can say it or the meeting went, went well  

because go is your verb. So this is in  the past simple. So your answer would  

be in the past simple. Here are some options.  It went well, which is, you know, so, so OK.

Good, a little bit better. Great, better than  expected. So that's an interesting one. Or you  

can make it negative and say it didn't go  well, which means it went poorly or badly.

To sound worse. It went terribly.  It went worse than expected. So  

must know question and these are  some potential answers you can use,  

although there are other adverbs you can use as  well. Now notes here though that seemed to go  

well. If something seems to go well, it means  we have some evidence, but we don't know 100%.

So I might say if I went to an  interview, they seemed to like me,  

but I don't know. They didn't say Jennifer,  I like you. It's just their body language,  

the conversation we had. So it's my guess  or there's some evidence, but it's not 100%.

So let's review this part again. A high stakes  meeting that seemed to go well with compliments  

exchanged on both sides. So compliments  is I say something nice about you. Now,  

if it's exchanged on both sides, it means  Donald Trump said nice things about Mark  

Carney and Mark Carney said nice things  about Donald Trump. So that's exchanged. Now,

Compliments, you can use this with with  anything. We often use this with personal  

appearances. You might say, Oh, Jennifer, I  really like your hair today, or oh Jennifer,  

that lipstick looks great on you. Or oh  Jennifer, you did an awesome job with the  

presentation. So compliments is used in a wide  range of both physical and skill-based as well.

Notice here, compliments is a noun. Now, I  know that for one because it's in the plural  

form and it follows a preposition. So based on  the sentence structure, I know this is a noun,  

but the verb to complement can also  be used. So you can use the verb to  

compliment, of course you would conjugate that and

The past simple. She complimented my  outfit. Jennifer, I love that shirt.  

She complimented my outfit or my shirt in  this case. Now, if you use it as a noun,  

the co-location, the verb is you give. She gave  me a compliment. So remember, verb and noun.

So let's continue with compliments exchanged on  both sides as President Donald Trump conceded  

his dream of annexing Canada  is likely off the table. Oh,  

OK, I love this expression, off the  table. This means that something is

No longer an option or no longer being considered.  For example, I could say extending the contract  

is off the table. So maybe we met face to  face to discuss extending the contract,  

but then you told me we don't have the funding.  So it's off the table. It's no longer an option.

Now the opposite of this is true. If you change it  to is on the table, it means that it is an option.  

It can be considered. So if we meet face to  face and you say, Hey, Jennifer, great news,  

extending the contract is on the table. But  it doesn't mean it's guaranteed. It just  

means that we can discuss it more.  It's an option we can consider it.

Now let's talk about this verb here, concede,  

and then in the past simple  conceded, concede, conceded.  

This means that Donald Trump admitted, but he  reluctantly admitted, reluctantly means that

He didn't really want to, but he  finally admitted that annexing Canada,  

so annexing Canada in this context  meant that the United States wanted  

Canada to become a part of the  United States, of the 51st state.

And that is no longer an option, and Donald  Trump has admitted that or accepted that.

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Carney's goal for this first meeting  of his premiership. So remember,  

in Canada, Mark Carney is the new prime minister.

So to refer to his leadership,  the terminology is premiership,  

and this would be for other countries that  have a prime minister. Now for countries that  

have a president, the equivalent  would be presidency, presidency.

So if this were about Trump, it would  be Trump's goal for his presidency. And  

notice that possessive. So the possessive  matches the subject because Trump is male,  

of course, it's his. Kearney is

Male, so it's his. His premiership  was to turn the page on a fractious  

few months with Canada-US relations  at their lowest point in decades.

Let's look at to turn the page. Of course, this  is another idiom because idioms don't have a  

literal meaning. So this is my to do list.  So if I turn the page, I have a fresh page.

So it's a fresh start. So that is the meaning  of this idiom. It's not literally about turning  

a page. It's about a fresh start or a new  beginning, a new relationship between the two.

Let's review fractious. This is an adjective.  Notice that pronunciation, fractious,  

fractious, fractious. This isn't the most  common adjective. A more common one would  

be tense on a tense few months. It's not  a direct synonym. fractious means that.

The the person or in this case,  the people, they're easily upset,  

easily annoyed, so they're the  conflict is quick or easy to happen,  

but tenses would be a more common choice on a  fractious or on a tense few months with Canada-US  

relations at their lowest point in decades.  Of course, one decade is a period of 10 years.

So decades, it's unknown, but it's 20 or more  years. So of course it sounds like a longer  

time and notice that preposition choice would be  in decades, in decades, in 20 years, in decades.

Let's continue. Speaking to reporters at  the Canadian embassy after his half day  

of talks with Trump, Carney said he feels  better about where things stand now than  

when he arrived in Washington. So notice  this part here, this simply gives you  

more information. The sentence would be  just this, Carney said he feels better.

Now notice here you can say something if you  wanted to include reporters will notice here  

you also have speak to something. So Carney said  to reporters he feels better about. You could also  

say that so notice you speak to, you say too, but  Carney told reporters, so you just tell someone.

So he said he feels better  about where things stand now.

So this where things stand now, this is the status  of things. So someone might ask you, where do we  

stand on extending the contract. So they're  asking, what is the status? What are people's  

opinions or stances? What are people saying? So  that's a common question. Where do things stand?

So let's review that question that  I gave you. Where do we stand on,  

and then because on is a preposition, your next  verb is in ING. Where do we stand on extending  

the contract? So you're asking, what's  our current status? What's our current

Opinion, our, our belief, or plan,  

all of that could be represented with  the word status. And then someone could  

reply back and say it's still on the table.  What does that mean? If it's on the table?

It's still an option. It's still something  that we're considering. Remember,  

the opposite is it's off the table. It's off the  table. So another common question. So he feels  

better about where things stand now than when  he arrived in Washington, so that comparison.

Even if the US president, of course,  

Donald Trump did not yet agree to dismantle  the punishing tariff regime on Canadian goods.

Let's talk about dismantle in this  context. It means to get rid of  

and then get rid of the state here the  tariff regime. So the tariffs that the  

US has imposed on Canada. So you could  also say to get rid of, to eliminate.

Let's continue. What he did secure from  Trump. So notice here, he didn't secure.

A dismantling of the punishing tariff regime.

So secure would mean he, he got it, he  achieved it. He has it. But so they're  

making that contrast. So he didn't secure  this. So they're saying what he did secure  

from Trump was a commitment to negotiate some  sort of new Canada-US trade deal, Carney said.

Let's review this again. What  he did secure from Trump.

Do you notice anything about  what I've highlighted here?

How about this did secure.

Because the past simple to  write this in the past simple,  

you wouldn't use did secure. You  would just say what he secured.  

So this is your verb to secure. So you  would put that in the pasty, which is

secured. The pronunciation is very similar because  it's just a very soft D. What he secured from  

Trump. That's the pasty. So what is this? What  he did secure. This is called the emphatic form.

So it uses the auxiliary verb simply to emphasize.  Let me give you an example sentence. I can say  

I work today, a very basic present simple  sentence, or I could say I do work today.

Adding do and then work is now  the base verb. So if it were she,  

it would be she does work today or she works  today. So this is your verb conjugated, but  

here it's the base verb and you add your auxiliary  verb conjugated with the subject. The only reason.

The reason to do this is to emphasize it.  So maybe someone says, you don't work today,  

do you? And then you say, No, no, I do work today,  

or your sister doesn't work today, right?  She does work today. So you're simply  

emphasizing the information. That's  the only reason to include this word.

So you need to think about your  verb tense because this is in the  

present simple. So in the past,  it would be I worked yesterday.

And then someone would ask  you, you didn't work yesterday,  

right? Or you went to the mall  yesterday? And I say, no, no,  

no. I did work yesterday. So again, I'm  emphasizing it and this is my auxiliary  

verb in the past simple and then my verb is  the base verb. So that's the emphatic form.

And in this context it's used because he didn't  secure the dismantling, so they want to emphasize  

that he did secure. So what he did secure from  Trump was a commitment to negotiate some sort  

of new Canada US trade deal. There's some sort of,  some sort of lets us know that we don't know what  

the details are. Carney doesn't even know what the  details are because he's the one who said this.

Let's continue. He also asked Trump to stop with  

the 501st state taunts during  their private luncheon, he said.

Let's talk about luncheon. Notice that  pronunciation. You simply add in to the word  

lunch, luncheon, luncheon. A luncheon in this  context is a lunch meeting or a formal lunch.

You could have a luncheon for a formal lunch  party, maybe for a wedding or an anniversary,  

but it's a formal lunch for a meeting  or party, for example, a luncheon.

So during this luncheon,  this formal lunch meeting,  

do you know what Trump said he would stop  or what at least Kearney asked him to stop?

The taunts, so taunts to taunt someone.

is to tease someone or to have mocking teasing  remarks. So every time Trump said publicly,  

oh yeah, Canada is just part of the US,  that's taunting, teasing, mocking Canada  

and therefore the Prime Minister of Canada. So  that's what Mark Carney asked him to stop doing.

Let's continue. It was a very constructive  meeting. So to describe something as  

constructive means that you accomplished a  lot. So it's another word for productive.

It was a very constructive meeting.  We have a lot more work to do.  

I'm not trying to suggest we can have one meeting  and everything's changed, but now we are engaged,  

very fully engaged, he said. I feel better  about the relations. So I feel better about  

the relations between Canada and the US. So  relations is another word for relationship.

Trump himself said Canada-US relations are  on a better trajectory. So trajectory is a  

path that one follows. So in this case,  the path was more of a negative one. The  

last few months, fractious, as the article  previously said, tense as I recommended.

So now we're on a better trajectory,  

so going towards the goal, a  different path after Tuesday's talks.

And here instead of Tuesday's talks, so notice  the talks belong to Tuesday. That's why we have  

this possessive here. You can say after the  talks on Tuesday, if you said it another way,  

but you could just say after Tuesday's talks.  And instead of talks, you could say after  

Tuesday's face to face, or you could say face  to face talks if you wanted to include that.

And this use of the word himself is  also simply to emphasize. It's not  

required grammatically. You can say  Trump said Canada-US relations are  

on a better trajectory, but  this is positive news. So by

Including Trump himself, it means not Trump's  aide, not Trump's assistant, Trump. So it's  

emphasizing that the words came out of Trump's  mouth, which makes it sound more impactful.

Let's continue. Speaking briefly to the  press after the Canadian delegation left,  

the president said he was  happy to see Justin Trudeau  

gone. Justin Trudeau was the former  prime minister of Canada, and then.

Gone, meaning he is no longer the prime minister  because Mark Carney is the new prime minister,  

so he was happy to see Justin Trudeau  gone. You can replace gone with leave,  

leave office. You could use that as  well, saying the former prime minister,  

this is Justin Trudeau, so saying the  former prime minister was antagonistic.

And fostered a bad relationship between the  two countries. Antagonistic, it's an adjective,  

so here to be. Now this is in the past  simple because he's no longer the prime  

minister. So at that time in the past was  antagonistic, which means hostile, aggressive.

Or confrontational antagonistic and  fostered a bad relationship between  

the two countries. The verb to foster  is very commonly used, especially in  

a more formal professional context. It means to  encourage, promote or contribute to. It's often.

Used with positive things, but as you can  see here, you can also encourage or promote  

something negative. So in a positive context,  you'll hear things like the teacher worked hard  

to foster confidence, so to encourage, promote,  cause, bring about confidence in her students.

In a negative context, which isn't as common  with the verb foster, but it's possible.  

So notice it's a verb to foster, so you need  to conjugate it. Here it's in the pasty,  

a lack of communication fostered tension.

So it promoted tension. It promoted something  negative, so it contributed to or caused,  

brought about, fostered tension in their  relationship. Let's continue. While he called  

Trudeau, so that he is Donald Trump and remember  Trudeau was the former prime minister of Canada,  

while he called Trudeau the governor, so remember  Trudeau was the prime minister of Canada.

The terminology governor is used in the  United States for states. And remember,  

Trump was saying that Canada  should be the fifty-first state.

So if that were true, Trudeau  would not be a prime minister,  

he would be a governor, but that's  not what is the current situation,  

right? So while he showed Trudeau, he called  Trudeau the governor in a show of disrespect,  

because like I said, this isn't the reality.  Trump said he hasn't done that with Carney.

And he may not in the future. So  notice this use of he hasn't done that.  

This is in the present perfect, but  we use the present perfect with an  

unfinished time reference. So if  I say I haven't done my homework.

It means I still can because it's an  unfinished time reference. But if I say  

I didn't do my homework, well then the timeline is  complete. The homework was due yesterday and it's  

impossible for me to do the homework. So this  is important because it just means until now.

And he may not, may not call him the governor in  a show of disrespect. He may not in the future,  

but May is a model of possibility. So  it's saying, I may not call him governor,  

but on the other side, I may call  him governor. So Trump is saying  

it's still possible he will call him  the governor, and that's the end of

The article. So what I'll do is I'll  read the article from start to finish,  

and you can focus on my pronunciation.  Carney tells Trump, Canada is not for sale.  

President praises PM as a very good person.

Newly elected Prime Minister of  Canada Mark Carney stepped into  

the lion's den Tuesday for his first  face to face with his US counterpart,  

a high stakes meeting that seemed to go well  with compliments exchanged on both sides as  

President Donald Trump conceded his dream  of annexing Canada is likely off the table.

Kearney's goal for this first meeting  of his premiership was to turn the page  

on a fractious few months with Canada-US  relations at their lowest point in decades.  

Speaking to reporters at the Canadian embassy  after his half day of talks with Trump,  

Kearney said he feels better about where things  stand now than when he arrived in Washington.

Even if the US president did not yet  agree to dismantle the punishing tariff  

regime on Canadian goods, what he did  secure from Trump was a commitment to  

negotiate some sort of new Canada-US  trade deal, Kearney said. He also asked  

Trump to stop with the 51st state taunts  during their private luncheon, he said.

It was a very constructive meeting. We have a lot  more work to do. I'm not trying to suggest we can  

have one meeting and everything's changed,  but now we are engaged, very fully engaged,  

he said. I feel better about the relations.  Trump himself said Canada-US relations are  

on a better trajectory after Tuesday's  talks. Speaking briefly to the press.

After the Canadian delegation left, the president  said he was happy to see Justin Trudeau gone,  

saying the former prime minister was antagonistic  and fostered a bad relationship between the  

two countries. While he called Trudeau  the governor in a show of disrespect,  

Trump said he hasn't done that with  Carney, and he may not in the future.

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