Mark Carney, Emmanuel Macron to visit French islands after Donald Trump’s map post

Leaders of France, Canada heading to Saint Pierre and Miquelon next weekend to underscore support for national borders

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Published Sep 13, 2026  •  Last updated 3 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

It would be the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister to France's territory of Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon. Photo by Evelyn Hockstein /POOL/AFP

PARIS — The leaders of France and Canada will next week visit France’s North Atlantic territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to underscore their support for national borders in the face of Donald Trump’s territorial ambitions, Paris said Sunday.

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The U.S. president on Monday posted an image to social media with a map of North America in which Canada, Greenland and Mexico, much of central America and the Caribbean, as well as Iceland, were coloured in with the U.S. flag.

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Map posted on social media Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump Photo by Truth Social

The image also encompassed several French overseas territories, such as Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron will make a symbolic visit to Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon to underscore that their countries share “the same values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for the sovereignty of nations”, the Elysee said.

Macron was set to visit the territory on Sept. 19-21 with Carney joining the French leader on Sept. 20.

“In a world marked by the return of power politics, geopolitical tensions and new forms of dependency, France and Canada share a common ambition: To work together and with all countries that share these values to strengthen their capacity to make decisions and act independently,” the Elysee said.

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The three islands of the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located about 20 km off Newfoundland’s southern coast, is home to around 6,000 people.

Macron will stop there on his way to New York, where he is due to attend the UN General Assembly.

It would be the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister to the archipelago, the French presidency said.

The territory has previously been the scene of tensions with the United States during the Second World War, when France was under German occupation.

In 1941, Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s Free French forces seized Saint Pierre and Miquelon from the collaborationist Vichy regime, despite opposition from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, which had sought to maintain existing arrangements with Marshal Philippe Petain’s government.

The last visit by a French president to the strategically located islands, some 4,300 km from mainland France, was by Francois Hollande in 2014.

Macron is also set to address climate change affecting the territory.

The village of Miquelon has started moving inland to escape the growing threat of sea-level rise, in what is widely regarded as France’s first climate-driven community relocation.

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