Donald Trump’s suggestion for Canada becoming part of US have been afloat for quite sometime. People have joked about it or some dismissed it as wishful thinking. But in a recent press conference, he made it crystal clear that he was not joking. He is serious about Canada becoming 51st state of the US.
According to him, US has protected Canada for far too long. He feels US has nothing to lose in the trade war and Canada has everything at the stake if US withdraws its support. Voicing his frustrations he said, US is supporting Canada in defense and with unnecessary trade sanctions. So, Canada becoming part of US was the logical option.
Within hours of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making announcement of his resignation as Liberal Party Leader, Trump took to social media to write, “The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” he continued, adding that if Canada “merged” with the U.S., “there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them.”
The following day he was addressing a press conference, when a journalist asked him if he was serious about making Canada the 51st state and whether he would consider military force to annex Canada.
Trump said not military force but he would consider “economic force” to annex Canada. He said, “Because Canada and the United States, that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security. … We basically protect Canada.”
He told US is losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada. “Why are we supporting a country with 200 billion plus a year. Our military is at their disposal. They should be a state. And I said that to, as I called him, ‘Governor Trudeau.’ I said, ‘Listen, what would happen if we didn’t subsidize you?’ He said, ‘Canada would dissolve,'” Trump claimed.
He said the U.S. doesn’t need “anything” that Canada exports like dairy, cars and lumber. He said he’d rather make cars in Detroit instead of relying on the highly-integrated continental auto supply chain, and not buy Canadian lumber or dairy. When discussing lumber, Trump said he could use an executive order to “un-restrict” it, implying the U.S. could ramp up domestic supply.
Later Trump posted a pair of maps to his Truth Social platform: one shows the American flag covering both Canada and the U.S., while the other displays the two countries with the words “United States” emblazoned over them.
