Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has told reporters he stands behind his speech in Davos calling out unconstrained superpowers, after a Trump official said he had aggressively walked it back in a call with US President Donald Trump.

To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos, Carney said on Tuesday, confirming he and Trump had spoken by phone.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told Fox News on Monday that Carney was very aggressively walking back some of the remarks to Trump.

Carney made global headlines for his Davos speech, in which he indirectly called out the US president for a rupture in the postwar world order.

Trump responded in his own Davos speech the following day by saying that Canada lives because of the United States.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Carney denied Bessent's recollection of the phone call. He added that it was the US president who had called him on Monday, and that the two had a very good conversation on a wide range of subjects, including Ukraine, Venezuela, Arctic security and Canada's recent trade agreement with China.

Carney said they also discussed the USMCA, a free-trade pact between Canada, the US, and Mexico that is up for a mandatory review later this year. He emphasized how Canada was the first country to understand the change in US trade policy initiated by Trump.

In the Fox News interview, Bessent criticized Canada's decision to negotiate a trade deal with China, stating he was not sure what the Prime Minister was thinking when he made his speech in Davos, adding that Canada depends on the US.

Bessent also suggested that Carney should prioritize what is best for Canadians rather than pursuing a global agenda, especially in light of Trump's threats of tariffs on Canadian goods if they continue to allow Chinese products to enter the US.

The agreement between Ottawa and Beijing aims to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola oil significantly, while Canada will moderately tax a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles. Carney clarified that Canada has never pursued a free-trade deal with China and believes Trump's tariff threats are merely a negotiation tactic regarding USMCA.

The president is a strong negotiator, and I think some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that, he stated.