Trudeau lashes out after Trump unveils his plot to ‘force’ Canada to become the 51st U.S. state

Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he planned to use “economic force” to force Canada into the Union, during a wide-ranging news conference where he declared “we don’t need anything they have.”

Trump, 78, spoke shamelessly about putting pressure on the country’s top trading partner after posting numerous messages in recent weeks about Canada becoming the 51st state after a Canadian politician talked about buying two US states in response to Trump’s repeated comments.

Many of Trump’s previous comments and messages could have been read as ironic. But Trump was asked in Canada on Tuesday about his plans after refusing to rule out military force to retake the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland, on a day his son Donald Trump Jr. visited the world’s largest island, adding to his words got meaning. .

When Trump was asked directly whether he would exert military pressure on Canada, he ruled it out, but spoke of a different kind of “force.”

“No – economic strength,” Trump responded, “because Canada and the United States, that would really be something.” If you take away that artificially drawn line and see what that looks like, it would be much better for national security as well,” Trump said.

His comments then turned to security – the US provides a security umbrella with its nuclear and conventional forces – and to trade and manufacturing, after he repeatedly made comments about the US empire.

“There is no chance of Canada becoming part of the United States,” Trudeau said posted on X. “Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s largest trade and security partners.”

Canada is the US’s largest trading partner and the US has a trade deficit of approximately $6 billion. Trump correctly noted that many American car companies produce cars in Canada, even though Trump said that “we don’t need the cars.”

The loss of trade with the US could send the Canadian economy into a tailspin. That’s why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rushed to Mar-a-Lago when Trump made comments about imposing high tariffs on the country after the November election.

“Remember, we are actually protecting Canada. But here’s the problem with Canada. So many friends there. I love the Canadian people. They’re great, but we spend hundreds of billions a year protecting them. We spend hundreds of billions a year to take care of Canada. We lose in trade deficits. We are losing mass – we don’t need their cars,” Trump said.

“You know, they make 20 percent of our cars. We don’t need that. I’d rather make them in Detroit. We don’t need the cars. We don’t need their wood. We have huge fields of timber. We don’t need their wood… We don’t need anything they have. We don’t need their dairy products, we have more than them. We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada? And I said that to, as I called him, Governor Trudeau (referring to the Canadian Prime Minister).”

“I said, listen, what would happen if we didn’t subsidize you? Because we give them a lot of money, we help them. For example, we buy icebreakers, and Canada wants to buy icebreakers with us. I said, you know, we don’t really want to have a partner in purchasing icebreakers. We don’t need a partner.

“We have the right not to help them with their financial problems,” Trump continued.

“Why are we supporting a country with $200 billion plus a year of having our military at their disposal, and all this other stuff. They should be a state,” he said.

Canada describes the relationship differently, call it a security ‘partnership’ that it makes both countries safer. “Our two countries share a deep and long-standing partnership in defense and national security, providing both countries with greater security than could be achieved separately,” a government fact sheet said.

Trump spoke shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would resign as prime minister

Three-time Stanley Cup champion Wayne Gretzky speaks during a state funeral for the late former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal

Trump spoke shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down as prime minister once his Liberal Party chooses a new leader.

He then named hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as a leader.

“I have a lot of good friends,” he said. ‘One of them is the ‘Great’. I said, ‘Run for the Prime Minister and you will win… It will take two seconds.’

“He said, ‘Well, am I going to run for Prime Minister or Governor? Just tell me,” Trump continued.

“I said, ‘I don’t know, let’s make it governor.’ I like that better.”

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. exports to Canada were $428 billion in 2022, and imports were $481 billion.

“President-elect Trump’s comments demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country,” the Canadian newspaper said. minister of foreign affairs Mélanie Joly. ‘Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats.”