Sir Keir Starmer, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni were all considered to have relatively good relations with Mr Trump, but have become targets of his anger for refusing to join his war in Iran. Their bridge-building gambits have failed.
Instead, they’re living in the world envisioned by Mr Carney in Davos earlier this year, when he bluntly warned that integration with the US – whether economic, defence or cultural – is a thing of the past.
The speech made Mr Carney something of a star, with his wake-up call about a political “rupture” threatening to chew up and spit out the world’s “middle powers”.
“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” he proclaimed, without naming Mr Trump directly.
Building ‘a third superpower’
Those “middle powers” are now gathering in Armenia, and Mr Trump has not been invited.
Recent events have left European and Canadian leaders scrambling to build a third superpower to stop themselves being crushed between the weight of the US and China.
It all makes Canada joining the EU sound quite plausible. Recent polls show almost 60 per cent of Canadians would favour the move.
In reality, it’s probably a bridge too far, but Mr Carney’s presence at the European Political Community summit will only add to the growing discussions about the idea.