OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
10:54 AM – Friday, January 23, 2026
President Donald Trump pulled his invitation for Canada to join his Gaza “Board of Peace” after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s World Economic Forum (WEF) speech appeared to blatantly critique American global leadership.
While Carney did not mention Trump by name during his Davos speech, the remarks were a deliberate and direct critique of Trump’s “America First” policies.
On Thursday, Trump published a Truth Social post announcing that Canada was uninvited from joining the initiative.
“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” he wrote.
During his nearly 20-minute address, Carney spoke on what he described as a shifting geopolitical landscape, specifically highlighting the rise of a “great power rivalry” that he argued is destabilizing global order.
“It seems that every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry — that the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must,” he stated. “For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that, we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.”
“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically, and we knew that international law applied with varied rigor, depending on the identity of the accused or the victim,” he continued, likely a veiled reference to Trump’s use of tariffs on foreign countries since retaking office.
“This fiction was useful, and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes,” he said. “This bargain no longer works.”
Carney argued that the current system looks more like a “rupture, not a transition,” calling for “middle powers” to “stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised.” He added: “Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion.”
During his address, Carney also shifted from economic theory to direct geopolitical defiance, stating, “We stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland’s future.”
This served as a sharp rebuttal to President Trump’s recent ambitions. Over the preceding weeks, Trump has frequently discussed the island, even devoting a significant portion of his own WEF speech to its strategic value.
In Trump’s remarks, he argued that U.S. ownership of Greenland was a military necessity and a historical entitlement following the U.S. role in World War II. However, he explicitly ruled out the use of military force to occupy the territory.
Trump further criticized the bilateral relationship, highlighting that “Canada gets a lot of freebies” from the U.S., partly referencing how the U.S. provides the vast majority of North American defense hardware and intelligence.
This was also a specific reference to the Trump administration’s upcoming “Golden Dome,” a massive missile-defense shield designed to protect the entire continent from long-range attacks — a project Trump noted Canada will benefit from without providing its fair share of funding.
“I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful, but they should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the United States, remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” Trump warned.
Carney fired back in an X post on Thursday, arguing that “Canada doesn’t ‘live because of the United States.’”
“Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” he added.
Trump hosted a signing ceremony of the Board of Peace’s founding charter while in Davos, Switzerland, which was joined by leaders from several nations to celebrate the launch.
It will be established to oversee the formation of a new technocratic government in Gaza. Under the framework of the U.S.-brokered peace plan that halted the Israel-Hamas turmoil in October 2025, the Board is tasked with managing the territory’s administrative transition and leading a massive international reconstruction effort.
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