Ottawa, Canada - Canada's Liberal Party overwhelmingly elected Mark Carney as the country's next prime minister Sunday, as the former central banker warned of "dark days" brought on by the US under President Donald Trump.

Carney lost no time taking a defiant stance against a US president he accused of "attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses."

"We cannot let him succeed," added the 59-year-old, who will take over from outgoing Liberal leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the coming days.

Carney may not have the job for long.

Canada Canada throws support behind Trump's "Iron Dome" plan

Canada must hold elections by October but could well see a snap poll within weeks. Current polls put the opposition Conservatives as slight favorites.

In his victory speech to a boisterous crowd of party supporters in Ottawa, Carney warned the United States under Trump was seeking to seize control of Canada.

"The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country," he said. "These are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust."

Carney, who previously led both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, soundly defeated his main challenger, Trudeau's former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.

The 59-year-old won 85.9% of the nearly 152,000 votes cast. Freeland took just 8% of the vote.

Carney campaigned on a promise to stand up to Trump.

The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.

Delivering a farewell address before the results were announced, Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January, said: "Canadians face from our neighbor an existential challenge."