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Teleprompter Jokes in Toronto
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney mocked US President Donald Trump after a teleprompter malfunction interrupted his remarks during a housing policy announcement in Toronto on Wednesday.
““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 paused after the teleprompter stopped working and told the room, “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,” drawing laughter.
The remark came as relations between Ottawa and Washington remained strained since Trump’s return to the White House, with the US president imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods and repeatedly suggesting Canada should become America’s 51st state.
The Reuters account of the same episode also tied Carney’s quip to Trump’s reaction to technical problems at the United Nations General Assembly last year, when he called for an investigation after a teleprompter and an escalator malfunctioned during his visit.
Trump Calls Canada Nasty
While Carney joked in Toronto, Trump separately criticised Canada’s leadership as “nasty” during a speech in Las Vegas.
Trump said, “Canada's nasty. They are, they’re nasty people, think Canada– I love the people, but they're nasty,” as he singled out Canada amid tariff disputes.
The WION account described Carney’s teleprompter moment as prompting laughter, with Carney’s line referencing Trump’s halted escalator and non-functioning teleprompter during a United Nations General Assembly incident.
CTV News also framed the episode as Carney mocking Trump after the teleprompter glitch, with the timing given as August 05, 2026 at 8:38PM EDT and August 05, 2026 at 7:11PM EDT.
Trade Fight and Global Order
The teleprompter exchange landed against a broader trade conflict in which Trump’s administration imposed broad tariffs on Canadian goods and repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st US state.
“slapping broad tariffs on the northern neighbor and calling for it to become the 51st U.S. state”
The Economic Times said Carney has positioned himself as someone who would fight Trump’s trade policies and has worked to lessen Canada’s diplomatic and economic dependency on the United States.
The same Economic Times account added that Carney drew international attention for declaring the end of a rules-based global order and criticizing great powers for using “economic integration as weapons.”
In parallel, Dawn’s Reuters-based writeup reiterated that Carney’s remark was an apparent reference to Trump’s “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,” as Carney appeared to mock Trump to laughs in Toronto.
