Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump says he may use economic pressure as a strategy to merge Canada with the United States.
During a Jan. 7 press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump was asked whether he would ever use the U.S. military to annex Canada, to which he replied, “No, economic force.”
He said merging the two countries and getting rid of the “artificially drawn” border would “really be something.”
Trump said the United States was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year to “subsidize” Canada, and said the United States doesn’t need to rely on Canadian products like lumber, dairy, and automotives.
“We don’t need the dairy products. We have more than they have. We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year, and more, to protect Canada?” he said.
During the press conference, Trump said he would be imposing “substantial” tariffs on Canada and Mexico when he takes office on Jan. 20. He has previously threatened 25 percent tariffs on all goods from both countries if they fail to secure their borders and stop the flow of illegal drugs and immigration.
According to Trump, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited him at his Florida residence in November, Trump asked him what would happen if he imposed the 25 percent tariffs.
“He said, ‘Canada would dissolve. Canada wouldn’t be able to function,’” Trump said.
“It’s all fine, but they got to pay for that. It’s very unfair,” Trump said.
The president-elect made the comments a day after Trudeau announced he would be resigning as prime minister once the Liberal Party has picked a new leader. Since Trump won the Nov. 5 election, he has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and called Trudeau the “governor” of a “great state.”
Trudeau responded to Trump’s latest comments on platform X, saying “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”
“Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner,” he added.
Trump was also asked if he would provide assurances that he would not use military or economic coercion to have the U.S. take back control of the Panama Canal and acquire the Danish territory of Greenland, to which he responded, “I can’t assure you on either of those two.”
Trump said Greenland was important to the United States from a security perspective, and questioned if Denmark “even has the right to own Greenland.”
“But if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for the national security of the free world,” Trump said, adding that Greenland would “probably vote for independence.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., travelled to Greenland on Jan. 7, saying on X that the people of the island nation “just want to be able to utilize some of the incredible resources that they have.”
Regarding the Panama Canal, Trump said the United States built the canal in the 20th century, but had made the “very big mistake” of transferring ownership to Panama in 1999. He said China has since begun operating the canal, and Panama had “abused that gift.”
