Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney slapped down Donald Trump in a meeting at the White House, indicating Canada is "not for sale". President Trump and Prime Minister Carney met for the first time in person in the Oval Office today (Tuesday) after the US leader had previously said he would like to make Canada the "51st state".

However, as the pair sat down in chairs in front of the assembled media, Mr Carney said "some places are never for sale", adding that: "It won't be for sale ever". Before the meeting Mr Trump had taken to the unusual step of posting on social media, raging that the US didn't need "anything" from Canada in the context of Canadian imports of lumber, cars and electricity.

The BBC reports Mr Trump said "it takes two to tango" when asked about Canada becoming part of the United States, but that "we're not going to be discussing that unless someone wants to discuss it".

President Trump then listed benefits he believed Canadians would receive by ceding their sovereignty, but Mr Carney seemed to want to hold firm on the matter.

The Canadian Prime Minister, and former Governor of the Bank of England, replied: "As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale, we're sitting in one now...it's not for sale. It won't be for sale."

However, even as the conversation moved on, Mr Trump couldn't resist quipping: "Never say never."

As the two men discussed trade between Canada and the US, Mr Trump claimed the US did not do a lot of business with its northern neigbour. He said: "We don't do a lot of a business with Canada, they do a lot of business with us."

Mr Carney did not respond to Mr Trump's assertion, or that Canada buys "top notch" military equipment from America.

The United States is a huge market for Canada with around 75% of exports heading south across the border, with everything from energy to cars and lumber all being sold. Canada is America's largest foreign supplier of crude oil.

However, in return Canada makes up only 17% of US exports and America's trade deficit, meaning when a country imports more goods and services than it exports, is estimated at around £36 billion.