UNITED NATIONS — Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City and make the case for multilateralism as U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to tear down international institutions overshadow the event.
Carney is expected to take part Monday in a roundtable discussion on strengthening multilateral collaboration with European Council President António Costa and Kenya’s President William Ruto on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The discussion is taking place at the Partners for Multilateralism summit, or P4M, a gathering of leaders to discuss coalition-building and translating shared principles into practical action.
Carney, Costa, Ruto and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva co-wrote an opinion piece published Sunday in The Financial Times that argues the global community is more interdependent than ever, “even as it becomes more fragmented and polarized.”
They pointed to climate change, global pandemics, financial shocks, conflicts and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as global crises that require countries to work together.
“Cooperation is therefore not an act of idealism, it is a practical necessity,” the leaders wrote. “The question is not whether multilateralism can survive, but how it must evolve to meet the realities of our time.”
Trump’s return to the White House and his unpredictable tariff campaign have upended global institutions and pushed away traditional allies.
Trump and members of his administration have demanded significant changes to the UN and have held back funding for the institution, putting it in turmoil.
As Trump looks to realign the global order, Carney has emerged in the role of coalition builder — something that appears to irritate the president. Earlier Monday, Trump posted on social media that the United States is working on a “massive Deal with respect to the purchase of Potash from Belarus.”
“The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers,” Trump said.
Details of the proposed deal remain unclear. It’s the latest shot Trump has taken at Canada since trade talks broke down in acrimony last month.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer repeated talking points on Bloomberg Television on Monday, accusing Canada of ending trade negotiations and claiming the escalating trade war won’t have much of an impact on the U.S. economy.
Greer said Canada now wants to “get together” with the European Union. That’s a reference to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen using her state of the union address to the European Parliament last week to open the door to Canada becoming what she called the first “associate member.”
“They’ve been very clear over the past year and a half, they’re sovereign. They may want to tie up with the EU now so it raises the question of that whole sovereignty shtick,” Greer said.
Trump is set to give a speech in front of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to deliver a speech to the General Assembly later in the week.
Carney, who is in New York City from Monday to Wednesday, will also attend a discussion on the two-state solution in the Middle East and will meet with global and business leaders on the sidelines of the event.
For nearly a year, Carney has been promoting the idea of bringing countries around the world together to pursue what he has called “shared interests, and occasionally shared values, rather than shared institutions.”
Carney has sought to build a bridge between the EU and a Pacific Rim trading bloc called CPTPP so that middle powers can better resist economic coercion by the U.S. and China.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2026.
— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
