Standing up to Donald Trump may get Mark Carney the thing the president wants most
Donald Trump has had a year to forget, with scandals and debacles sinking his approval rating to near-record lows.
But in what would be a bitter blow to the president, two things he covets more than just about anything could be going to a man who made his name by standing up to him.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is a potential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press via AP
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now the bookmaker’s favourite to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and be Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
Carney topped the odds at prediction market Kalshi to become the next Nobel laureate.
And he was also briefly the favourite for the magazine honour.
Prediction markets are prone to wild swings and are entirely speculative.
But it shows how Carney has become a hero both at home and around the world for standing up to Trump.
When he stepped into the role as prime minister, his party had been in power for ten years and was staring at a heavy election loss.
But the economist who had never served in politics before 2025 turned the Liberal Party's fortunes around, winning in a landslide.
Donald Trump has long spoken of his ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
And he has only grown more popular in office, with a poll this week showing 61.5 per cent of Canadians prefer him as prime minister, with opposition leader Pierre Poilievre at just 20 per cent.
Carney is popular outside of Canada as well, receiving a standing ovation at the European Union earlier this month.
Canada has now been invited to join the EU as an associate member.
At an event at the White House on Wednesday, Trump heaped scorn on America's northern neighbour.
"Canada has taken advantage of us for so many years. The worst of any country. They were very bad," Trump said.
"Now, they're being taught a little lesson. We just named a certain lake: Lake America."
President Donald Trump is deeply unpopular with voters. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
If Carney is awarded the Nobel Prize or Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, it would certainly get under Trump’s skin.
Trump has twice won the honour from Time, though before he was president he was asked by the magazine to remove doctored magazine covers hanging up on the walls at Mar-a-Lago.
He also said he turned down the honour in 2017, a claim Time denied ever happened.
Trump is on the cover of Time this week, posing on his newly built helipad on the White House lawn.
In the interview he raged at the reporters asking him questions.
"This ain’t gonna be much of a story. Here we are doing this. You haven’t asked me one f‑‑‑ing positive question," the president said.
"What about this? What about that? What about that? What about this? All negative."
The other betting market favourite for this year’s cover is New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another politician with very different views from Trump.
Though unlike Carney, Trump has taken a shine to Mamdani in a way that baffled pundits.
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