‘Stay Out Of Our Election’: Trump’s Hardball Agenda Looms Large As Canadians Vote In Key Election

Canadians head to the polls Monday to choose a leader who must confront President Donald Trump’s hardball trade agenda in a country that sells the overwhelming majority of its goods to the U.S.

The election caps a chaotic campaign season dominated by U.S. tariff threats, annexation rhetoric from President Donald Trump and public anger over Canada’s growing economic dependence on its southern neighbor. Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former central banker and climate envoy, took over for Justin Trudeau after his disastrous fall from grace — meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, once poised for a landslide, have faltered badly after early polling advantages evaporated.

“President Trump, stay out of our election,” Poilievre wrote Monday. “The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box. Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state. Today Canadians can vote for change so we can strengthen our country, stand on our own two feet and stand up to America from a position of strength.”

Poilievre has tried to distance himself from Trump amid tariff threats and calls for U.S. annexation, which he repeated Monday.

“Good luck to the Great people of Canada,” the president wrote. “Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America.”