Time for world to tell Trump his ‘real thing’ is non-starter
Canada could use some help from its friends throwing cold water on ‘51st state’ talk
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017 after a visit to the White House during Trump’s first term. Trump is back in the White House and has been musing about expanding his country’s borders, including into Canada. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The entire world needs to understand that U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk about annexing Canada is a non-starter, and the time has come to stand up and say so.
What seemed months ago as a quip about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau becoming the governor of America’s 51st state has morphed into Trumpian foreign policy that now makes headlines on a daily basis.
How serious is it? Trudeau told a hastily arranged meeting of business leaders last week that he believes Trump’s desire to annex Canada is a “real thing.”
Trump confirmed, in an interview with Fox News before Sunday’s Super Bowl game, that his talk is real.
“Canada would be much better off being the 51st state,” he said in that television interview.
On Wednesday, Trudeau repeated in a press conference his line that “there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell” of that happening.
Trump has not clearly spelled out why he believes Canada should be the 51st state. He has cited the American trade deficit with Canada, Canada’s shortfall on defence spending, and more recently its abundance of critical minerals — much of which is located underneath Nunavut and other parts of the Canadian North.
Whatever the reason, Canadians have been left stunned by how our country’s historically close relationship with the U.S. has soured so quickly. We’re hurt, angry, confused.
Canadian political leaders, including Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and his Quebec counterpart François Legault, travelled to Washington this week in a bid to head off the looming trade war that would happen if Trump imposes 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into his country.
A 25 per cent surcharge on aluminium and steel is now also on the docket for all countries, including Canada, which if imposed will add up to 50 per cent tariffs on those Canadian goods.
But while premiers gird for a trade war, Canada could use help fending off Trump’s unwanted “51st state” advances. It would help if other world leaders could echo Trudeau’s oft-used “snowball’s chance” sentiment.
That rhetoric has been heated up to the point that it’s time for the international community to step in and cool it off. Canada could really use some trusted world leaders — France’s Emmanuel Macron or the U.K.’s Keir Starmer — to come to our aid and tell Americans and their president annexation is a non-starter.
So far, Trump has only threatened to use economic force to bend Canada to his will, which is bad enough. Things could be worse. Ask Greenland, a country Trump has publicly mused about using military force to take over because he sees it as part of America’s international security plans.
An American annexation of Canada would rock the world order and would have implications for Canada’s NATO allies and for the United Nations. That’s why other world leaders need to be the grown-ups in the room and tell Trump to knock off the 51st-state talk.
Trump’s talk of annexing Canada is not only a betrayal of a 200-year peaceful, prosperous partnership between the two nations, it’s a betrayal of the principle of national self-determination — the idea that people should be free to choose how they’re governed and by whom.
It’s one of the ideas that made the United States great in the first place.
Its Trump’s usual crap. Throw it at the wall and lets see what will stick. Trump has been this way all his life. It is time Canada said enough is enough. It is all very insulting and just outright disrespectful. We can we expect nothing better from this person.
It is important to try to determine what he really wants but at the same time it makes Canada look weak when all the premier’s go to US with caps in hand almost begging for an meeting with the “King”.
Fly the Flag today and we all need to do our part in supporting our Great Country.
What happens to the NLCA if canada becomes 51st state? Last i checked indigenous people are barely even recognized in most of the US.
Those who I know are ready to fight. We will not be bullied by an idot and a convicted felon who should not be in power in the first place . We would not be better of and our children would suffer. It’s time to pull away from the United States and expand our trade else where and cut the hydro and oil going to the United States. They want Canada 🇨🇦 to rape its natural resources and exploit the land and water. Now is the time to act and as far as I’m concerned we will never take a knee to the orange fool the United States elected for a president. If he wants a fight give it to him and that we will. There may be hard times but there would be harder under a dictator. No one in the United States seems to be going against trump so if it’s a fight he’s look for then let’s do this. The United States has never run a war and usually tuck tail and run . So it’s my opinion WE FIGHT
Those who I know are ready to fight. We will not be bullied by an idot and a convicted felon who should not be in power in the first place . We would not be better off and our children would suffer. It’s time to pull away from the United States and expand our trade else where and cut the hydro and oil aswell as other precious metals and minerals going to the United States. They want Canada 🇨🇦 to rape its natural resources and exploit the land and water. Now is the time to act and as far as I’m concerned we will never take a knee to the orange fool that the United States elected for a president. If he wants a fight then lets give it to him and that we will. There may be hard times but there would be harder times under a dictator. No one in the United States seems to be going against trump so if it’s a fight he’s look for then let’s do this. The United States has never won a war and usually tuck tail and run once they get what they really wanted for example , money ,oil, minerals, So it’s my opinion WE FIGHT
Trump has alienated the entire world with his stupidity. It’s time for the world to collectively tell him to “Go Away “. These words can be printed conveying the unpritable message. He is destroying centuries of progress in a matter of weeks. His party better grow some courage and deal with him. Four years is too long to wait for this rancid pice of garbage to dissolve.
Trump is soaring in the polls right now. Tell him whatever you want.. no one is listening.
It’s embarrassing to let this robber barron rattle our cage.
Don’t even acknowledge Trump on this.
Be mindful that media posturing catastrophic Is great for readership.
Considering what blunder boy and the libdips have done to this country in the last 10 years, becoming the 51st state has some appeal. There is really nothing to fight for and our ancestors would be ashamed of what Canada has become as it certainly is not what they fought and died for.
True, ‘Forever’; this sabre-rattling under the guise of tariffphobia and Trumpmania is done by the same people who were the most stolid supporters of covidmania.
Given enough leeway, they would have been quite content to imprision anyone who defied forced masking, vaccinations, and lockins. Heck, they would have imprisoned anyone who even spoke out against those measures.
It’s ALWAYS the antisocial-socialists who contribute most to the rot in modern society
Traitor! You would be taking the easy way out instead of fighting for our country.
No, our country’s not perfect.What country is?
But it’s OUR country and rather than whining and crying about how the last government ruined it, then why don’t we vote and make it a better country.
People like you who are traitors to our country need to move to the united states right now and leave us alone.
By the way, just so you know, since the orange president s a known liar, you don’t REALLY believe that he would keep his promise and make us the fifty first state, do you? No I guarantee you. He will renegue on that deal and instead he will turn us into a territory, much like puerto rico. We would be a vassal state, which means we would not have any voting rights and very limited freedoms. And we would be be under a dictatorship.
Plus my brother lives in bellevue washington, and he pays $1600/month for health insurance. Even then, it only covers to a certain amount of the rest is out of pocket. Healthcare in the united states can bankrupt you.
Just sayin’, TRAITOR
…Lookup how indiginous peoples are treated in the USA, you want that? Move there, Alaska should be similar enough. You want actual freedom? Stop spouting stupidity.
All is not well in America these days. Been to San Francisco? How about Chicago? Their debt is over 36 trillion dollars and their deficit in 2024 was 1.8 trillion dollars. They cannot continue like this and Mr. Trump knows this. Free trade is great if you can produce things more efficiently compared to your trade partners, which America cannot do, so tariffs is the only way the president sees as a viable path to get industry back. I don’t get all the trolling of Justin Trudeau, maybe Trump just doesn’t like him, but America simply cannot continue on their path. Unfortunately, the tariffs will likely only accelerate their decline as they are passed on to the consumer, so I am doubtful they will last.
“We’re “American ” already. We just don’t realize it yet.”
Read that somewhere during NAFTA ruckus back in the day.
Then Canada threatened to stop watching American tv and write the UN a letter saying that the U.S. is being mean and using big grown up words.🤣🤪🤘
I like Trump.
Millions thought Hitler was a great leader. How did that work out for them, for the world and finally for him. The world sat and watched as things slipped away. This is no time for watching.
Well, that escalated quickly.
Trump will be gone at the latest in 4 years, perhaps sooner if the devil calls him home. Mark the date on your calender. It will be ” the greatest, most beautiful, celebration the world has ever seen”. That’s what hw would say and this time I agree.
Of course, eyes-off of Canada to stop controlling the western hemisphere on money laundering, illegal hard drug manufacturing, world hard drug exporter and human trafficking.
Cartels in B.C. used the government casinos to launder $1 billion dollars in one year. Hockey bags of cash filled with $20 bills still enter casinos daily.
Two years ago United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, went to Canada to discuss USA’s concerns about Canada’s continued involvement in industrial manufacturing and world export of fentanyl.
Last week Barrick Gold announced they are considering moving out of Canada to go to the USA. Will Nunavut gold mines follow?
Also last week, Enviroment Minister Steven Guilbeault pulled the plug on a $11-billion oil refinery in British Columbia.
The company threw up its arms to build the refinery when in 2019 new stringent regulations dropped in place with an emphasis on climate.
Trump, as did Bidens admins, demand Canada to stop being a criminal drug haven of the world causing non stop death worldwide. Canada’s response, like misdirected puppets on a string to boo USA and wag their finger at Trump.