LONDON >> New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met the leaders of Britain and France on Monday during his first official overseas trip, seeking support from two of Ottawa’s oldest allies as U.S. President Donald Trump targets Canada’s sovereignty and economy.

Canadians have criticized the leaders of the two countries that founded Canada for their muted response to Trump’s attacks. The president has imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and repeatedly commented on turning Canada into the 51st state.

Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron did not take journalists’ questions, and a joint news conference was not scheduled with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, either.

An official familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the Canadians proposed a press conference in Paris but the French declined.

Starmer has called Canada a friend and ally of the U.K. but has declined to directly call out Trump’s talk of annexation — although he went further than he has before by stressing Canada’s sovereignty.

“The relationship between our two countries has always been strong,” Starmer told Carney inside the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence.

“Two sovereign allies, so much in common — a shared history, shared values, shared king.”

Carney dismissed the notion that he is seeking the support of other countries to affirm Canada as a nation. “We don’t need another country to validate our sovereignty, we are sovereign,” he said.

Macron did not address Trump’s attacks on Canada ahead of their talks but noted that tariffs only bring inflation and damage to supply chains.

“In the current international context, we want to be able to develop our most strategic projects with our closest, more loyal partners,” Macron said.

In London, Carney was received at Buckingham Palace by King Charles III, Canada’s head of state, before his talks with Starmer. The monarch, wearing a red tie and an Order of Canada lapel pin, congratulated Carney on his recent victory. He was sworn in Friday.

Tuesday, Carney will travel to the edge of Canada’s Arctic to reaffirm the country’s security and sovereignty.

Carney has chosen the two European capitals that shaped Canada’s early existence.

During his swearing-in, he noted the country was built on the bedrock of three peoples, French, English and Indigenous.

He added that Canada is fundamentally different from America and will “never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States.” “I want to ensure that France, and the whole of Europe, works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries,” Carney said, but vowed to “maintain the most positive relations possible with the United States.” Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said other leaders are “playing it safe” and making sure to avoid gaffes at a time of international tension around Trump’s actions and rhetoric.