During a recent Gaza peace summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the Canadian Prime Minister found humor in a mistake made by Donald Trump. The former US president, now 79, mistakenly referred to the Prime Minister as the “president” of Canada while expressing gratitude to global leaders for their contributions to the US-facilitated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
In his address, Trump said, “You have Canada. It’s fantastic to have, in fact, the president called, and he was eager to understand – well, he already knew its significance. Where is Canada, by the way? Where are you? He recognized its importance.” After the speech, Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, approached Trump with a handshake and a lighthearted comment about the blunder, joking, “I’m glad you promoted me to president.” Trump, who has often faced criticism about his mental acuity, laughed it off, responding, “Oh, did I?”
Trump further quipped, “I’m sorry! At least I didn’t call you Governor.” Carney has held the position of Prime Minister since March of this year. Throughout his speech, Trump provided a running narrative, identifying other dignitaries in attendance. He was notably puzzled about why some leaders were sharing the stage with him while he spoke. Particularly, he expressed surprise when he noticed that France’s President Emmanuel Macron was not among those standing with him.
‘France, thank you very much Emmanuel. I would imagine Emmanuel standing someplace behind me,’ Trump said looking around him before spotting the president in the audience. ‘I can’t believe it. You’re taking a low key approach today.’ The president moments later gushed over the leader of Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been working to dismantle the country’s democracy.
‘Oh Viktor, where is Viktor? We love Viktor. Veektor, I call him, put the little accent on it,’ Trump said. ‘You are fantastic. I know a lot of people don’t agree with me, but I’m the only one that matters. You are fantastic.’ He then praised the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as ‘beautiful’ when he noted her attendance.
‘Italy. We have a woman, a young woman who’s – I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it – she’s a beautiful young woman,’ Trump said. ‘Now if you use the word beautiful in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career, but I’ll take my chances.’ And in an embarrassing moment for Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister appeared to think he had been called up to the podium to speak .
‘Italy. We have a woman, a young woman who’s – I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it – she’s a beautiful young woman,’ Trump said. ‘Now if you use the word beautiful in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career, but I’ll take my chances.’ And in an embarrassing moment for Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister appeared to think he had been called up to the podium to speak.
The Prime Minister replied: ‘I am right behind you as usual.’ The President then invited Sir Keir to the stage, saying: ‘Come up here, is everything going good?’ Starmer awkwardly replied ‘very good’ as he turned toward the microphone. The US leader then stepped in front of Starmer and continued his speech. He said: ‘It is very nice that you are here. These people all came on like 20-minute notice and I think it is fantastic.’ Sir Keir looked around awkwardly before slowly scuttling back to his place on the stage, sharing a faint smile with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump, alongside dozens of world leaders, had gathered in Egypt on Monday to celebrate the long-awaited peace agreement between the warzones. ‘This is a great day, this is a whole new beginning,’ Trump told reporters after arriving at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday morning. ‘And I think there’s never been an event like it, I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Trump later made his way to the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh where he signed off on his plan for peace in the Middle East at the summit, alongside fellow negotiators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
No representative from Israel or Hamas was, however, present at the signing ceremony. Trump hailed the ‘momentous’ breakthrough and ‘the new beginning for an entire beautiful Middle East’ after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and detainees. As he signed the ceasefire deal document, Trump spoke of how moved he was by seeing Israeli hostages being reunited with their families. ‘It’s a beautiful thing to see,’ he said.
‘In one sense, it’s so horrible that it could have taken place, but in another sense, it’s so beautiful to see a new and beautiful day is rising.’ Emotional reunions have taken place across Israel, Gaza and the West Bank after all 20 living Israeli hostages and captives were released by Hamas, before Israel released more than 1,900 prisoners and detainees. Buses carrying dozens of freed Palestinians drove to the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Prisoners Office said.
