Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has sharply criticised members of the Trump administration after US officials appeared to mock Canada's military, accusing them of "trying to be tough" instead of engaging seriously with efforts to resolve the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries. The exchange marks a further deterioration in relations, coming shortly after Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" and follows Carney's earlier decision to suspend trade negotiations with Washington.

The row was triggered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who posted an image on Monday night of a teenage girl receiving a medal at a cadet training centre in British Columbia, captioned "This is real", widely seen as mocking. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy had separately dismissed Canada as "a country that doesn't have a military" during a Fox News appearance on 23 August. Speaking to reporters, Carney said the comments from Trump's cabinet secretaries were "beneath their office" and called on them to start taking the trade talks seriously.