Is Trump Considering the Annexation of Canada?
A senior Trudeau minister who participated in the Mar-a-Lago dinner asserts, ‘The president was teasing.’
TroibNews 
OTTAWA — President-elect Donald Trump made a familiar joke about annexing Canada, leaving Ottawa contemplating whether it was intended as humor.
The notion of Canada becoming the 51st state occasionally arises in discussions on both sides of the border. Homer Simpson once referred to Canada as "America junior."
During a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump reportedly took a jab at manifest destiny.
Trudeau, who visited Florida with a small group shortly after Trump threatened broad tariffs on Canadian imports, seized the opportunity to caution that such measures would harm the Canadian economy.
According to Fox News sources, it was during this conversation that Trump suggested Canada could become a state, "which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously."
While the idea of a massive super-country could surpass Russia as the largest by land area and further streamline integrated supply chains, Canadian nationalists have long opposed the concept of Canada becoming a state, a sentiment that emerged strongly during the contentious national debate over continental free trade that characterized the 1988 election. Canada maintained its sovereignty even as the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement extended to include Mexico.
Journalist Matthew Yglesias, an American, expressed his interest in the idea of eliminating borders. "Annexation is clearly a good idea that would make both Americans and Canadians better off but nobody talks about it except in the context of occasional nationalist bluster," he posted on X.
On Tuesday, reporters sought responses from Canadian Cabinet ministers regarding the joke; Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was present at the Mar-a-Lago dinner, commented on the lighthearted nature of the evening. "In a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving, the conversation was going to be lighthearted," LeBlanc said. "The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us."
LeBlanc's sentiment was clear: there's no need to take it so seriously. "It wasn’t a meeting in a boardroom with 10 bureaucrats keeping notes," he added. "It was a social evening, and there were moments where it was entertaining and funny, and there were moments where we were able to do, we think, some good work for Canada."
Gerald Butts, a former senior adviser to Trudeau who played a significant role during Trump's initial years, advised his LinkedIn followers to remain calm. "Trump used this '51st State' line with Trudeau a lot during his first term. He’s doing it to rattle Canadian cages," Butts wrote. "When someone is trying to get you to freak out, don’t."
This message seemed to resonate in Parliament Hill. Arif Virani, the justice minister, when asked about Trump's quip, shifted focus to the continuity of the Trump-Trudeau relationship. "I think it’s really important that when President-elect Trump sees Prime Minister Trudeau, he sees someone who’s been there, and there’s continuity in terms of leaders on the world stage," Virani stated. "Resurrecting the relationship that they already have is very important in demonstrating that we take issues that relate to our two nations seriously, particularly economic interests."
When a reporter pressed further, asking if it was just a joke, Virani responded with a simple, "Merci. Thank you."
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, a key player in a year-long "Team Canada" engagement strategy, quickly highlighted the importance of the cross-border relationship. "Our American friends will see Canada as the strategic supplier of choice, whether it’s about semiconductors, whether it’s about critical minerals, whether it’s about energy," he said.
Champagne emphasized that Trudeau was the first G7 leader to meet Trump after the president-elect's significant victory last month, noting that this encounter "sends a big signal to the world that Canada is the strategic partner."
The Canadians’ cautious response to the humor might be understandable, especially after Trump continued to focus on Canada several days post-dinner. On Tuesday, he shared a cryptic image on Truth Social, with "Oh Canada!" adorning what appeared to be an AI-generated picture of him next to a Canadian flag overlooking a mountain range that bore a striking resemblance to the Matterhorn, located about 3,800 miles east of Ottawa's Parliament Hill. While the details may not line up perfectly, the sentiment was clear.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
The notion of Canada becoming the 51st state occasionally arises in discussions on both sides of the border. Homer Simpson once referred to Canada as "America junior."
During a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump reportedly took a jab at manifest destiny.
Trudeau, who visited Florida with a small group shortly after Trump threatened broad tariffs on Canadian imports, seized the opportunity to caution that such measures would harm the Canadian economy.
According to Fox News sources, it was during this conversation that Trump suggested Canada could become a state, "which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously."
While the idea of a massive super-country could surpass Russia as the largest by land area and further streamline integrated supply chains, Canadian nationalists have long opposed the concept of Canada becoming a state, a sentiment that emerged strongly during the contentious national debate over continental free trade that characterized the 1988 election. Canada maintained its sovereignty even as the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement extended to include Mexico.
Journalist Matthew Yglesias, an American, expressed his interest in the idea of eliminating borders. "Annexation is clearly a good idea that would make both Americans and Canadians better off but nobody talks about it except in the context of occasional nationalist bluster," he posted on X.
On Tuesday, reporters sought responses from Canadian Cabinet ministers regarding the joke; Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was present at the Mar-a-Lago dinner, commented on the lighthearted nature of the evening. "In a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving, the conversation was going to be lighthearted," LeBlanc said. "The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us."
LeBlanc's sentiment was clear: there's no need to take it so seriously. "It wasn’t a meeting in a boardroom with 10 bureaucrats keeping notes," he added. "It was a social evening, and there were moments where it was entertaining and funny, and there were moments where we were able to do, we think, some good work for Canada."
Gerald Butts, a former senior adviser to Trudeau who played a significant role during Trump's initial years, advised his LinkedIn followers to remain calm. "Trump used this '51st State' line with Trudeau a lot during his first term. He’s doing it to rattle Canadian cages," Butts wrote. "When someone is trying to get you to freak out, don’t."
This message seemed to resonate in Parliament Hill. Arif Virani, the justice minister, when asked about Trump's quip, shifted focus to the continuity of the Trump-Trudeau relationship. "I think it’s really important that when President-elect Trump sees Prime Minister Trudeau, he sees someone who’s been there, and there’s continuity in terms of leaders on the world stage," Virani stated. "Resurrecting the relationship that they already have is very important in demonstrating that we take issues that relate to our two nations seriously, particularly economic interests."
When a reporter pressed further, asking if it was just a joke, Virani responded with a simple, "Merci. Thank you."
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, a key player in a year-long "Team Canada" engagement strategy, quickly highlighted the importance of the cross-border relationship. "Our American friends will see Canada as the strategic supplier of choice, whether it’s about semiconductors, whether it’s about critical minerals, whether it’s about energy," he said.
Champagne emphasized that Trudeau was the first G7 leader to meet Trump after the president-elect's significant victory last month, noting that this encounter "sends a big signal to the world that Canada is the strategic partner."
The Canadians’ cautious response to the humor might be understandable, especially after Trump continued to focus on Canada several days post-dinner. On Tuesday, he shared a cryptic image on Truth Social, with "Oh Canada!" adorning what appeared to be an AI-generated picture of him next to a Canadian flag overlooking a mountain range that bore a striking resemblance to the Matterhorn, located about 3,800 miles east of Ottawa's Parliament Hill. While the details may not line up perfectly, the sentiment was clear.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
