U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump’s continued interest in annexing Canada as the 51st state began with a conversation the president had with the nation’s former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Rubio told reporters after Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada on Friday that Trudeau said Canada “couldn’t survive as a nation-state” if the U.S. imposed tariffs on Canadian imports.
“At which point the president said, well, then you should become a state. And that’s where this began,” Rubio said.
Saul Loeb, Pool Photo via AP
Why It Matters
Trump has publicly called for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state multiple times throughout his 2024 campaign and since taking office on January 20.
Several Canadian officials have voiced their disinterest in being annexed by the U.S.
What To Know
In an interview that aired on Fox News last month, Bret Baier asked Trump if his statements about annexing Canada were “a real thing.”
“I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen,” Trump said in the interview.
Federal statistics show the 2024 deficit with Canada in goods and services trade was $35.7 billion, CNN reported.
Prior to the Fox News interview, Trudeau was caught commenting on tariffs on a hot mic. Canadian public broadcasting outlet CBC reported that Trudeau made the comments while speaking to business and labor leaders in a closed-door session, but his remarks were accidentally aired on a loudspeaker.
Trudeau reportedly said that Trump wants to access Canada’s mineral reserves and that he “has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is by absorbing our country and it is a real thing.”
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair called Trump’s comments “offensive” during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
“One of the things I think we need to be very clear to everyone, including Mr. Trump, is that Canadians will always stand up for our nation, our country,” Blair said. “We’re prepared to defend ourselves as required, and that always sometimes requires sacrifice.”
Before Trump took office, Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that “the joke is over.”
“It’s a way for him, I think, to sow confusion, to agitate people, to create chaos knowing this will never happen. It’s becoming very counterproductive,” LeBlanc said.
What People Are Saying
Rubio told reporters that Trump “made an argument for why Canada would be better off joining the United States from an economic perspective and the like. He’s made that argument repeatedly, and I think it stands for itself.”
What Happens Next
Tensions remain heightened between the U.S. and Canada as a result of Trump’s continued calls for the annexation of Canada and his tariffs on Canadian imports.
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