Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked President Donald Trump Friday if he was concerned about Canada becoming a political haven for Democrats if it were to become America’s 51st state.
Trump has floated the idea of annexing Canada as the 51st state of the U.S., stating that the neighboring nation has “ripped” off the U.S. with tariffs on lumber, dairy products and other essential imports. The president told Doocy that Canada may not be as liberal as generally believed and expressed optimism that it would become a “great” state.
“You say this in all the talk about Canada becoming the 51st state, they would be a very, very blue state. Very, very big, and very, very blue,” Doocy said.
“Yeah, it might be, but you know, you have that artificial line that looks like it was drawn by a ruler. I don’t mean a ruler like a king, I mean a ruler like a ruler,” Trump said. “This way, and it’s just an artificial line that was drawn in the sand, or in the ice. You add that to this country, what a beautiful landmass, the most beautiful landmass anywhere in the world. And it was just cut off for whatever reason, it would be great,” Trump began.
“Now, is it liberal? Maybe, but a conservative [Pierre Poilievre], until I got involved, I don’t care who wins up there, frankly, I’d probably do better with the liberal than the conservative to tell you the truth, but just a little while ago, before I got involved and totally changed the election which I don’t care about, probably it’s to our advantage actually. But the conservative was leading against who I call Governor [Justin] Trudeau. The conservative was leading by 35 points, so I don’t know about that,” the president continued.
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Canada’s new liberal prime minister, Mark Carney, and conservative leader Pierre Poilievre are currently neck-and-neck in the polls, according to CBC News. For the first time in nearly three years, the liberals have a three-in-four chance of winning more seats in Parliament if an election were currently held.
Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Canada and a 50% tariff on Canadian aluminum and steel over its involvement in the illegal immigration crisis and the fentanyl epidemic that has plagued the U.S. He initially intended to place 25% tariffs on Mexico, though he postponed these tariffs until April 2 after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The president told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Tuesday that Canada is one of the “nastiest” nations to negotiate with and said he is being tougher on them than some U.S. adversaries because it is destined to become the next U.S. state.
Carney said he would be prepared to meet with Trump on a “more comprehensive approach to trade” if Canadian sovereignty was respected in a March 12 statement.
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