Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the U.S. president, Donald Trump, on Tuesday in a closely watched encounter at the White House that could hint at the future relationship between the two countries and their two leaders.

Over the weekend, Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he would use military force to annex Canada, a key trading partner and political ally. In recent months, the president has repeatedly threatened to use economic coercion to weaken Canada to the point that it accedes to Trump’s wish to make it the 51st state.

“I think we’re not ever going to get to that point, something could happen with Greenland … I don’t see it with Canada, I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you,” he said, according to Reuters.

Carney crafted much of his federal election campaign on Canada’s collective outrage over Trump’s threat to the nation’s sovereignty. During his victory speech last week, Carney used one of his campaign’s most frequently delivered lines, telling exuberant supporters Trump wanted to “break us, so that America can own us”.

Carney also used his first post-election press conference to once again quash any idea Canada was interested in becoming the 51st US state, a proposal repeatedly floated by Trump.

“It’s always important to distinguish want from reality,” Carney said on Friday.