Inside Canada's bold plan to side with Europe after trade war with Trump... but leader Mark Carney is facing a huge risk

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking steps to align his country more with Europe, than with their neighbors in the Americas, a new report has revealed.Sources close to Prime Minister Carney revealed to the Wall Street Journal that he has for several months been deliberating a 'closer integration of Canada and its 41 million residents into the EU' amid the trade war with the United States.The Canadian leader is seeking to become an 'associate member' of the European Union, which he believes would provide his residents with a flurry of economic and political benefits. However, he risks upsetting Trump to the point the relationship with the US becomes untenable, but EU membership for Canada isn't guaranteed.The EU, which has not been flexible about membership rules in the past, is open to the idea of granting Canada a yet to be created status of associate membership, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials both from the EU and Canada. Canada's relations with Washington have deteriorated sharply since President returned to the White House in early 2025, with disagreements on trade and other issues. The trade spat has led to tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border trade.Carney has spoken regularly with several EU leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron, about the possibility of letting Canadians live and work visa-free in the EU, WSJ said, citing two unnamed officials familiar with the matter. The project to closely tie-up Canada and the EU is not such an easy feat, though, as fierce opposition to a more modest trade deal showed.More than a decade after the deal was struck and nine years since it provisionally entered into force, several EU countries still have not ratified it. Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with the news media after he suspended trade negotiations with the United States, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada August 22, 2026 President Donald Trump speaks with journalists prior to boarding Air Force One at Shannon Airport in Shannon, Ireland, Sunday, September 13, 2026Last month, the relationship between American and its northern neighbor suffered another blow after Trump decided to call one of the Great Lakes that border both nations Laker American, instead of Lake Ontario.Google Maps made the switch from Lake Ontario's name to Lake America for US users following an executive renaming order.Trump earlier signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to adopt 'Lake America' as the body of water's name for US federal purposes amid ongoing trade disputes with America's northern neighbor.The order does not compel Canada or any international organization to adopt the new name, and Canadian officials have spoken out against the move.Carney, who has clashed with Trump on a number of occasions, decried the move last month, rejecting the name change from Lake Ontario, pointing to the name's indigenous roots from a Wendat word meaning 'the lake is beautiful, the lake is great.'The announcement came at a particularly explosive moment in US-Canadian relations. Trade negotiations between the longtime allies have collapsed, with Trump threatening punishing new tariffs on Canadian goods and Carney promising Canada will retaliate 'dollar for dollar.'Trump has said tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel will rise to 50 percent by 2027 as he attempts to force more manufacturing into the United States.And while signing the renaming order, the president made clear that his dispute with Ottawa was far bigger than the name of a lake.'The whole Canadian thing has to come to a stop,' Trump said.'We are going to be doing tariffs on their cars that are coming in at a substantial level because we want to make the cars here.'They can make their own cars if they want and they can continue to make cars for Canada but we don't want them to make cars for the United States of America. It's very simple. Likewise many other products.'Trump also accused Canada of relying on the United States for military protection without adequately compensating Washington.Back in July, Trump verbally attacked Canada when wildfire smoke drifted across the border into a number of Northern US states, prompting severe air quality alerts and cancelations of of outdoor events.'We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air,' Trump posted on Truth Social at the time.