Trump Says ‘Many Canadians’ Want to Join US as 51st State

File photo of then-U.S. President Donald Trump greeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in Washington on June 20, 2019. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump has once more brought up the notion of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state, this time saying “many Canadians” support the idea.

“Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,” Trump wrote in a Dec. 18 Truth Social post, adding that Canadians would “save massively on taxes and military protection.”

Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as a U.S. state, with the first mention taking place during his Nov. 29 meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau told Trump during the meeting that his proposed 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods would devastate the country’s economy. Trump replied that if Canada couldn’t survive despite its large trade surplus, which he estimated at $100 billion, it might as well become the 51st state, with Trudeau serving as governor, according to a Fox News report on Dec. 2.

Trump repeated the claim that the United States is subsidizing Canada in his latest post, but added that the amount is more than $100 million a year. He did not elaborate on the claim. The U.S. trade deficit in goods with Canada last year was $62.2 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Trump took another jab at Canada and Trudeau in a Dec. 10 Truth Social post, referring to him as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” adding that he looks forward to another meeting on trade and tariffs.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who had joined Trudeau at the meeting with Trump, was asked by reporters whether the president-elect viewed Canada as a “joke” when making his comment. LeBlanc denied this, describing the exchange as part of a “warm, cordial relationship” between Trudeau and Trump. He added that Trump was “teasing us” and that the remark was “in no way a serious comment.”

LeBlanc has since been sworn in as finance minister following former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet. LeBlanc will handle both the finance and public safety portfolios.

Meanwhile, a Leger poll of 1,520 people nationwide said 13 percent of Canadians supported the idea of Canada becoming a U.S. state. Support was strongest in Alberta, where 19 percent backed the idea, while those in Atlantic provinces show the least support, with just 7 percent in favour.

Trump Comments on Freeland Departure

Following Freeland’s surprise departure from the Trudeau cabinet on Dec. 16, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “The Great State of Canada” is stunned by her resignation, and that she was fired by “Governor Justin Trudeau.”

Freeland said in a Dec. 16 letter that her decision to leave the Trudeau cabinet followed weeks of disagreement with the prime minister over the “best path forward” for the country. She raised concerns about Trump’s tariff threats, urging the Liberal government to avoid unspecified “costly political gimmicks” and keep its “fiscal power dry” in the face of a potential trade war.

Freeland did not specify which Liberal economic policies she disagreed with. In recent weeks, Trudeau had promised a GST holiday on certain goods and $250 cheques for most working Canadians.

Freeland was set to deliver the Fall Economic Statement on the day of her departure. While she had set fiscal guardrails in last year’s statement, including a commitment to keep the deficit below $40.1 billion, the latest statement shows a deficit of $62 billion, exceeding the target by more than $20 billion.

Trump said Freeland’s departure from the Liberal cabinet would help Canada secure better deals, adding that her approach had hindered agreements that could benefit “the very unhappy” Canadians.

Freeland was absent from Trudeau’s meeting with Trump last month, despite being deputy prime minister and head of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations at the time. She was appointed foreign affairs minister in 2017, just ahead of Trump’s first term, to lead the renegotiations of the North American free trade deal.

Freeland said Trudeau’s decision not to include her in the meeting was “the right choice,” noting that the discussion was focused on border security.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.