Eight years ago, President Donald Trump praised the US-Canada relationship in glowing terms.
He hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in February 2017, marking one of his first joint appearances with a foreign leader. Trump began by stating that the nations “share much more than a border,” emphasizing “the special bonds that come when two nations have shed their blood together—which we have.”
“America is deeply fortunate to have a neighbor like Canada,” Mr. Trump stated. “We have before us the opportunity to build even more bridges, and bridges of cooperation and bridges of commerce.”
Fast forward to Thursday, weeks after Trump launched a full-fledged trade war with Canada, and it’s clear that the president doesn’t think the United States should share a border — or much else — with its Canadian neighbors.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump initially expressed his fondness for Canadians, citing his “many friends” such as hockey icon Wayne Gretzky. Then he riffed on how Canada should not exist as an independent country before moving on to what has become a fixation: annexing Canada as a state of the United States.
“Canada only works as a state,” Trump stated Thursday. “We don’t need anything that they have. As a state, it would be one of the best anywhere. This would be the most stunningly stunning country. If you look at a map, you’ll notice that they drew a fake line through Canada and the United States. Simply a straight, artificial line. Someone accomplished that many, many decades ago. Makes no sense. It’s so ideal for a fantastic and cherished state.”
“But why should we subsidize another country for $200 billion?” Trump went on to say, “And again, we don’t need their lumber or energy. We’ve got more than they do. We don’t need anything. We don’t need their autos. I would much rather make the automobiles here. And there’s nothing we need. There will be some disturbance, but only for a short time. But they need us. We don’t actually need them. And we must do this. “I am sorry.”
Trump has been unabashed in his desire to conquer the Canadians, which he stated in January will be carried out by “economic force.” As a result, the relationship between the United States and one of its closest friends has deteriorated, and the stock market has plummeted amid fears of an escalating trade war. Both Canadian officials and Republicans initially assumed the president was joking when he ribbed Trudeau, his longtime adversary, at Mar-a-Lago in November. Following that visit, Trump boldly proposed absorbing Canada. Few believe he is joking now, and the Canadians have stopped laughing.
According to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations, Trump is particularly focused on Canada in chats with advisers, who feel he is absolutely serious about making Canada the 51st state, even though Trudeau is no longer in power and a new prime minister has taken office.
‘No clue where that is coming from’
The notion does not enjoy widespread acceptance. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., was asked directly if he supported Trump’s desire to annex Canada and Greenland during a heated town hall in his area on Thursday.
“No,” Edwards answered. “I do not.”
While Canadians claim Trump made a private joke with Trudeau about Canada becoming a state during his first term, multiple White House officials say the broad assault on Canadian sovereignty was not the result of any conversations at the time. In fact, these former officials stated they don’t recall Trump ever mentioning the subject.
“Never, ever heard him mention it,” said one former White House official. “Ever. No idea where that is coming from.”
Congressional Republicans also could not recall such a proposal being raised during his first term.
“That’s probably three nos,” Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., responded when asked if he remembered Trump expressing interest in acquiring Canada, redrawing borders, or renegotiating treaties with the Canadians. “No. At least to my recollection, this is completely new territory.”
A 68-page national security report signed by Trump in December 2017 made only one reference of America’s northern neighbor: “Canada and the United States share a unique strategic and defense partnership.”
In private, Trump has made specific demands that Canadians claim they will never agree to. The president made it clear in a phone chat with Trudeau last month that he wants to renegotiate the border between the two countries established by a 1908 border treaty, according to two Canadian officials and earlier reported by The New York Times and Toronto Star.
If Trump actually opposes to the boundary line, a Canadian official stated that the International Court of Justice is the appropriate forum to resolve the disagreement.
According to the official, the president has also mentioned renegotiating agreements that govern the Great Lakes and Columbia River, as well as gaining control of the Northwest Passage, a maritime route that begins west of Greenland and runs through Northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean.
“He wants our water,” the Canadian diplomat explained. “He wants to take the water.”
According to Marc Miller, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees, and citizenship, Trump is drawn to Canada because of its natural resources. Separately, the president wants American access to Ukraine’s rare earth resources in exchange for aid to the war-torn country.
“I do think that Mr. Trump looks at our natural resources and has that acquisitive mind behind it,” Miller said, dismissing Trump’s assertions that the United States is supporting Canada for $200 billion.
Miller added that after Trump’s inauguration, Canadians began to take his annexation threats seriously. He expressed dissatisfaction that more allies had not come out in Canada’s defense.
“I can’t claim it was completely predicted. “Neither can anyone,” Miller stated. “Frustratingly among our allies, everyone is ducking for cover.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
A battle to be treated ‘fairly’
In recent weeks, Trump has imposed broad and hefty tariffs on a variety of Canadian commodities. There have been some walkbacks. Then there was escalation. Canada has implemented punitive measures. And the tit-for-tat trade war has intensified almost everyday.
Canada is one of the United States’ greatest commercial partners, accounting for approximately 80% of its exports. The country accounts for around 60% of U.S. crude oil imports, 85% of electricity imports, and is the largest exporter of steel and aluminum into the United States.
“Well, I think Canada is a neighbor,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated at a Tuesday briefing. “They’re a partner. They’ve always been an ally. Perhaps they are starting to compete now.”
Trump has also not presented a clear exit strategy for tensions in Canada. He has criticized what he views as high Canadian tariffs on dairy imports from the United States and emphasized the importance of US metals manufacturing. However, he has also stated that one of the primary reasons for the trade war is Canada’s lack of urgency in dealing with the fentanyl epidemic, despite the fact that just 43 pounds of fentanyl were captured by U.S. border officials entering the nation from Canada previous fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds from Mexico. And he has incorrectly claimed that American banks are not permitted to conduct business north of the border; the Canadian Banking Association reported last month that 16 US banks are actively operating in Canada.
“Clearly, the president is looking for some results,” said Amodei, who founded the bipartisan American Canadian Economy and Security Caucus in 2023 and submitted a House resolution reaffirming the US-Canada relationship last month. “I’m not sure those results are clearly defined.”
Amodei stated that Trump is primarily concerned with the United States being “treated fairly” in trade, citing cases where he believes Canada is not doing so.
“When you say, well, you want to be treated fairly, the question is, OK, define fairly.” Amodei spoke. “And I don’t think ‘fairly’ is defined at the moment.”
Canadians regard Trump’s ambition to expand the United States into Canadian territory as completely unfair. Mark Carney, the former Canadian and British central banker who was sworn in as Prime Minister on Friday, predicted “dark days” for his country after being chosen to lead the Liberal Party.
“These are dark days — dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust,” he told reporters. “We’re over the shock, but let’s not forget the lessons. We need to look for ourselves and each other.”
He has since stated that he is willing to negotiate a new trade agreement — Trump previously renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement during his first term — as long as his country’s sovereignty is respected.
“If he wanted Canada—if he really wanted it—he’s harmed the prospects of Canada being the 51st state by the way he’s approached it,” said John Bolton, a national security adviser during Trump’s first term who has since broken with him.
‘Canada is a sovereign state’
Trump’s rhetoric is not always mirrored by other members of his administration. During a confirmation hearing on Thursday, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Canada, former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., stated, “Canada is a sovereign state,” implying that the president’s demand for annexation stemmed from his friendship with Trudeau.
When asked by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., how he might heal a “negative relationship that has developed because of the president’s statements,” while “addressing tariff issues,” Hoekstra responded: “Obviously, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about that myself.”
Nearly 800 miles north of Washington, D.C., at a conference of G7 foreign ministers in Quebec, reporters grilled Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Trump’s proposal to declare Canada the 51st state. Rubio stated that there would be no such discussion at the G7 summit.
“It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Rubio informed the crowd.
When NBC News questioned Rubio after the meeting of foreign ministers on Friday, he clarified the president’s position.
“I’ll tell you how that came about,” Rubio stated of his efforts to promote Canadian annexation. “OK, he’s in a meeting with Trudeau, and Trudeau basically says that if the U.S. imposes tariffs on Canada, Canada couldn’t survive as a nation state, at which point the president said, ‘well, then you should become a state.'”
Mr. Trump, according to Rubio, “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,” Rubio continued. “And I think it stands for itself.”
A senior State Department official noted “the need to separate trade policy” from “broader cooperation on foreign affairs, which is challenging.”
“But there is broad agreement that we cannot allow real disagreements on certain issues to prevent us from working together on areas of agreement, especially critical foreign policy issues including migration, China, and of course Russia and Ukraine,” according to this individual.
What particularly perplexes Republicans about Trump’s proposal is that annexing Canada may add millions more Democrats to American voter registers. Canada is a liberal-leaning country that has a larger population than California. If Canada becomes a state, it might gain 50 House seats and two senators, ushering in a significant shift in government power.
“They’d have a sizable delegation in the House,” Amodei explained. “”I don’t believe that’s a good idea. Oh, by the way, how many Electoral College votes will they receive?
Trump’s history of handling the US-Canada relationship is linked with his personal relationship with Justin Trudeau, his only Canadian colleague until this week. At times, their cooperation has been successful, such as when they renegotiated the trade pact that governs commerce between their countries. However, there has been some resentment.
Now, annexation threats have sparked a “wave of patriotism in Canada” unlike anything Miller has witnessed.
“Not hiding the fact that it can do a lot more damage to Canada than the U.S.,” Miller said, noting that the U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner. “But we have a high pain threshold and we’re ready to fight.”
There is a reason why Canada believes it can win the fight as well. Its citizens are united against giving up national sovereignty, but the United States is divided over Trump’s trade war, particularly when the stock market falls.
“Trump’s position is vulnerable because he lacks the support of the American business community,” the Canadian official explained. “And we know that.”