Faced with a teleprompter glitch, Canada’s Carney mocks Trump

TORONTO – When his teleprompter malfunctioned on Aug 5 in the middle of a news conference on housing policy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney smiled and took a swift jab at US President Donald Trump, saying: “I do not view this as a conspiracy.”

Carney’s remark was an apparent reference to Trump’s demands for an investigation after he encountered a halted escalator and a non-functioning teleprompter in 2025 at the United Nations General Assembly, where he delivered a speech.

“I would like to inform you that the teleprompter has ceased to function. Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy,” Carney said to laughs at the news conference in Toronto.

Carney’s office and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Relations between Canada and the US have been fraught since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, slapping broad tariffs on the northern neighbour and calling for it to become the 51st US state.

Carney, who has said he would fight Trump’s trade policies, has worked to lessen Canada’s diplomatic and economic dependency on the US.

He also drew international attention for declaring the end of a rules-based global order and criticising great powers for using “economic integration as weapons”. REUTERS