Trump Tells Trudeau That Maybe Canada Should Become the 51st State

Boy, that didn't take long.

Last time that Trump was in the White House, there was a seemingly endless number of headlines generated by him that were, frankly, embarrassing, or were the equivalent of hearing nails on a chalkboard. And if you thought things would be different this time....well, what exactly would you base that on, anyway?

This time, he did not even wait until he reached the White House before he made comments that, once again, make many Americans feel like this country has become the laughingstock of the world. With Canadian Prime Minister in town at Mar-a-Lago to discuss Trump's threats of imposing a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, Trump "joked" that if Canada could not survive as a nation without "ripping off" the United States, then maybe Canada should become the 51st American state. Here is how the exchange was described by Margaret Hartmann in a recent article for the Intelligencer (which she herself got from FOX News, evidently):

Trudeau told Trump he cannot levy the tariff because it would kill the Canadian economy completely. Trump replied — asking, so your country can’t survive unless it’s ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion?     

Trump then suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously, sources told Fox News.

It did not end there:

But he continued, telling Trudeau that prime minister is a better title, though he could still be governor of the 51st state.    

Sources told Fox News someone at the table chimed in and advised Trump that Canada would be a very liberal state, which received even more laughter. Trump suggested that Canada could possibly become two states: a conservative and a liberal one.    

He told Trudeau that if he cannot handle his list of demands without ripping the U.S. off in trade, maybe Canada should really become a state or two and Trudeau could become a governor.    

While sources say the exchange got many laughs, Trump delivered the message that he expected change by January 20.

As Hartmann suggests, this was not the first time that Trump has raised eyebrows and made headlines (and possibly sparked an international incident) by suggesting a (hostile?) takeover of the massive piece of land by the United States. During his first term, Trump suggested that he wanted to buy Greenland. Then this caused an international incident when leading Danish government officials made it clear that Greenland was not for sale. 

Evidently, Trump was not really kidding about wanting to take over Greenland. Which means that this may be a source of worry for anyone wanting some semblance of normality in North America, and even in the world, for the next four years (at least). 

Maybe this is what some of the Trump supporters meant when they said that at least he would be entertaining? Because it's always a good idea to antagonize neighbors and insult their national status. That's just good, wholesome fun, right?

Here we go again.

Sigh.

Trump (Jokingly?) Suggests Canada Become 51st State by Margaret Hartmann, senior editor for Intelligencer, Dec. 3, 2024:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-suggests-canada-become-51st-state.html