British and Canadian outlets are helping to debunk the narrative that President Trump rudely slapped down Prime Minister Starmer during his visit to the White House.

After a joint press conference on Thursday, Mr. Trump was accused of angrily shutting down the prime minister after he insisted the two leaders did not talk about the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state. However, major outlets in Canada and England are reporting that the accusations are not what they seem.

A liberal commentator, with the username Acyn, shared a video of the moment a reporter from a British outlet, the Independent,  Andrew Feinberg, asked the prime minister if Mr. Trump’s “repeated statements of desire to annex Canada” came up in their meeting.

“Look, we had a really good discussion, a productive discussion, a good discussion as a result of which our teams are happy to be working together on an economic deal, our teams are going to be working together on security in Ukraine,” Mr. Starmer responded. “You mention Canada. I think you’re trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist. We’re the closest of nations, and we had very good discussions today. But we didn’t address Canada.”

As Mr. Starmer spoke, the reporter started to press him on the matter again. However, Mr. Trump interrupted both men and said, “That’s enough.” He then called on another reporter, and Canada was not mentioned again.

The video shared by Acyn zoomed in on Mr. Starmer, leaving Mr. Trump out of the frame, and the commentator’s post heavily implied that the president was trying to stop the prime minister from speaking about Canada. Several users on X shared the video and accused Mr. Trump of “bullying” Mr. Starmer. 

However, a video where the two men can be seen shows that Mr. Trump flashed a grin at Mr. Starmer while he talked about how great their relationship was. As the reporter started talking again, Mr. Trump’s grin disappeared, and he pointed at the reporter and said, “That’s enough.”

The Independent published a report about the incident with the headline, “Trump shuts down Independent reporter pressing Starmer on annexing Canada.” The outlet said Mr. Trump “cut off The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg as he pressed Sir Keir Starmer about the US president’s desire to make Canada the 51st state.” 

A separate article from the Independent noted that Mr. Feinberg later appeared on MSNBC to tout how he “confronted” Mr. Trump several times. The outlet noted that its reporter had repeatedly “tangled” with the president about tariffs throughout the day. Just before Mr. Feinberg asked about Canada, he had been trying to prove Mr. Trump wrong about who pays for tariffs. 

Another British outlet, the BBC, reported on the moment and said that Mr. Trump “quickly interjected with the words ‘that’s enough’” after Mr. Starmer said there was no divide between the two men. It also did not suggest there was any kind of slight towards the prime minister. 

Canada’s CTV reported that Mr. Trump “abruptly halted discussion of Canada.” It noted the president “cut off” Mr. Starmer but did not suggest there was any frustration directed at the prime minister. 

While foreign outlets helped refute the suggestion the president was “bullying” Mr. Starmer, the White House’s rapid response account wrote,  “President Trump was clearly talking to the reporter trying to goad the leaders into division.”

The stern response from Mr. Trump capped off a day of meetings with Mr. Starmer where the two men seemed to be rather friendly despite their political differences. 

In other settings, Mr. Trump has been known to speak at some length about how he thinks Canada should become part of America. He also has frequently posted about the idea on his social media platform and referred to Prime Minister Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”