Trump has said that Canada would not be subject to tariffs if it becomes the 51st state of the US.
President Donald Trump has for weeks suggested that Canada become the United States’ 51st state, and while opinion has been divided about whether Trump is serious or merely trolling its neighbor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that it’s the former, according to reports.
In a closed-door meeting with Canadian business and labor leaders, Trudeau reportedly affirmed that Trump’s ambitious aims of annexation are “a real thing.”
“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on …” Trudeau said before the microphone cut out, according to CBC.
The news media had been asked to leave the room before Trudeau delivered his comments, but CBC and The Toronto Star were able to hear them and record them.
“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Trudeau added according to people in the room who listened to his comments. “They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.”
Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed what Trudeau said in a post on social platform X.
“Yes, I can confirm that Trudeau said his assessment is that what Trump really wants is not action on fentanyl or immigration or even the trade deficit, what he really wants is to either dominate Canada or take it outright,” McGowan wrote. “Tariffs are a tactic towards that end.”
Trump first pitched the idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trudeau in late November. Trump has also suggested annexing Greenland.
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Canada is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner. It is a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities such as oil.
