Was Mark Carney’s White House Visit A Success? AI Sentiment Analysis Suggests Yes

The White House

Mark Carney’s White House visit on May 6, 2025, generated significant buzz. 996 Advisors ran an AI sentiment analysis of over 475,000 pieces of content from the past 24 hours to asses if public perception of the visit was a success:

Sentiment analysis reveals mixed public opinion on Mark Carney's White House visit, with the most positive reactions from news outlets (79.9%) and Reddit (66.1%), while Twitter shows the highest negative sentiment (47.7%).

• Traditional News: 80% positive

  The predominantly positive sentiment, especially in traditional news, suggests the visit was framed as a diplomatic win, likely since Carney held his tongue to avoid a Zelensky-type end to the meeting. Carney did interject and reinforce Canada’s sovereignty which was well-received, but Carney’s silence in the face of Trump’s attacks on Chrystia Freeland did not go unnoticed.

  
  

• Bluesky: 69.8% positive

  Bluesky’s audience was not surprisingly very pro-Carney, with users viewing his calm and patient demeanor as the right strategy to deal with Trump’s unpredictability.

• Reddit: 65.9% positive

  Reddit users were similar to BlueSky users in their praise of Carney’s handling of Trump, however there were contradictory narratives that Carney looked weak and struggled to interject. Comparisons to Macron’s visit were made with Redditors wishing Carney had been more forceful to interject his key points during the joint media availability.

  
  

• YouTube: 56.5% positive

  Perceived weakness by Carney is a leading narrative among YouTube commentators who felt he struggled to control Trump’s mischaracterizations and attacks on Canadian politicians.  Perception was more mixed on this channel, with ambassadors and detractors highlighting moments during the joint presser where Carney stood up strongly for Canadians versus times the audience felt he capitulated too much.

  
  

• Twitter: 52.3% positive

  Similar to YouTube, Twitter audiences were also more mixed in their reaction. Accounts with an existing history at bashing Carney highlighted the moments he appeared weak, and accounts that support Carney as PM pointed to the moments Carney fact-checked and pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric.

The data indicates broad public approval, particularly among mainstream media and policy-savvy online communities, suggesting Carney’s visit was seen as successful. However, YouTube and Twitter’s lower positivity hints at some dissent.

While sentiment analysis may miss contextual nuances, the overwhelmingly positive response across platforms points to a well-received visit.

Frankly, the fact that Carney escaped relatively unscathed and with a path forward to further negotiations may have been the PM’s goal for the visit. Trump made many efforts to goad Carney into putting on a show for the cameras, and Carney avoided taking the bait in a few instances. The risk-reward trade off of appearing weak next to Trump’s big personality by not engaging on some of his attacks meant Carney has paved the way for a more productive relationship than Trudeau had.