‘Trump wanted to break us,’ Canadian leader says after stunning turnaround victory (2025)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sounded a defiant note on Monday night as his liberal party swept to victory: U.S. President Donald Trump can threaten Canada all he wants, but he will never break it.

“That will never, ever happen,” Carney told cheering supporters as his Liberal Party prevailed in a consequential nationwide election that was as much a referendum on the Republican president as it was about determining his nation’s future.

Carney also gave a frank assessment of a world order thrown into chaos and uncertainty by Trump’s trade war and embrace of such strongmen as Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Guardian reported.

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“We are over the shock of the American betrayal,” Carney said, according to The Guardian, as he pledged to reshape Canada’s relationship with other countries.

"But we will never forget the lessons,” he added.

Carney faced a challenge from Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who was set to be voted out of his seat in Parliament, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projected Tuesday.

The loss of his seat representing his Ottawa district in Monday’s election capped a swift decline in fortunes for the firebrand Poilievre.

Just a few months ago, he appeared to be a shoo-in to become Canada’s next prime minister and shepherd the Conservatives back into power for the first time in a decade.

But then Trump launched a trade war with Canada and suggested the country should become the 51st state, outraging voters and upending the election.

Poilievre, a career politician, campaigned with Trump-like bravado, taking a page from the “America First” president by adopting the slogan “Canada First.” But his similarities to Trump may have ultimately cost him and his party.

As the results showing the Liberal win rolled in on Monday night, Carney praised other party leaders for campaigns that he said had strengthened the country’s democracy.

“Let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past. We are all Canadian and my government will work for and with everyone,” he said, according to The Guardian.

The Liberals were projected to win more of Parliament’s 343 seats than the Conservatives. It wasn’t immediately clear if they would win an outright majority — at least 172 — or would need to rely on a smaller party to pass legislation and remain in power.

Elections Canada said it has decided to pause counting of special ballots — cast by voters who are away from their districts during the election — until later Tuesday morning.

The Liberals were leading or elected in 168 seats when the counting was paused, four short of a majority. Elections Canada estimated that the uncounted votes could affect the result in about a dozen districts.

The decision means Canadians won’t know until later in the day whether Carney’s Liberals have won a minority or majority mandate.

In a victory speech, Carney stressed the importance of unity in the face of Washington’s threats. He also said the mutually beneficial system Canada and the U.S. had shared since World War II had ended.

“As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,” Carney added. “These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ... ever happen. But we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed.”

Associated Press reports are included in this story.