Gyeongju, South Korea - President Donald Trump said that he had a "nice" talk with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the APEC summit on Wednesday.

"We had a very nice conversation with him," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday in brief remarks after fielding a lengthy selection of questions from reporters about his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

His acknowledgement came mere days after he hiked tariffs on Canada by an additional 10%, but was at least a step forward from Monday, when Trump said that he wouldn't negotiate with the major US trading partner "for a while" due to an anti-tariff ad campaign that he took offense to.

The two leaders shared an awkward dinner together ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-Operation Summit (APEC) summit, flanked by high-ranking leaders including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

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Sitting directly across from each other, the two leaders appeared to barely speak to one another at the dinner except for a brief toast at the meal's outset.

"I'd like to thank everybody, I know you all either reasonably well or very well," Trump said during the dinner. "We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea... We made a deal, we pretty much finalized a trade deal."

"I just think it's an honor to be with you," he continued, addressing everyone at the table. "You've all done a fantastic job, you're fantastic leaders."

Trump then made a point of thanking Albanese for their meeting at the White House last week, but only ever directly addressed Carney with a raised glass and an angry glare from across the table.