\u201cMany Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,\u201d posts Trump on Truth Social
\n OTTAWA
\nUS President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday it would be \u201ca great idea\u201d for Canada to become the 51st US state, teasing on social media that \u201cmany Canadians\u201d welcome the idea, as Ottawa is wracked by political turmoil.
\n\u201cMany Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social.
\n\u201cThey would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!\u201d he added.
\nThe post is not the first time Trump has publicly mused at the idea, a joke that some have found in bad taste, particularly following the shock resignation of Canada\u2019s deputy prime minister on Monday.
\nA Leger public opinion survey this week found 13% of Canadians support the notion of linking up with their southern neighbour.
\nWhen Trump made the same comment to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in late November, howls of laughter reportedly erupted.
\nAccording to Fox News, Trump suggested that merging the two nations would not only resolve his concerns about fentanyl trafficking, over which he has threatened a 25% tariff on Canadian goods but could also stem illegal immigration \u2014 an issue that mainly affects the US southern border.
\nHis suggestion raised eyebrows in Ottawa with some commenting that it was \u201cnot funny,\u201d humiliating and a not-so-subtle threat on the part of the incoming US leader.
\nSince then, Trump has repeatedly referred to Trudeau in social media posts as the governor of Canada \u2014 a title used by leaders of the 50 US states.
\nThe jabs may have become more worrying for Canadians since the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland this week, which spurred calls for Trudeau to quit.
\n\u2018Boxer working a cut\u2019
\nFormer Trudeau advisor Gerald Butts reacted on social media: \u201cTrump is like a boxer working a cut.\u201d
\nNorman Spector, an ex-staffer to former Canadian prime minister and Trump golfing buddy Brian Mulroney, wondered if Trump seriously wanted to annex the United States\u2019 northern neighbour.
\n\u201cThat will never happen,\u201d University of British Columbia politics professor Max Cameron told AFP.
\n\u201cNothing could be a greater impediment to Canada more closely integrating with the United States than Donald Trump in office in Washington,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cI suspect this is all part of a pattern of bullying that is how he approaches negotiations.\u201d
\nQueen\u2019s University professor Stephanie Chouinard echoed that view, saying Trump \u201cis taking advantage of the chaos in Canadian politics this week to further antagonise Trudeau.\u201d
\nPublic Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has insisted that despite Trump\u2019s teasing, he and Trudeau have had \u201cproductive\u201d discussions with the president-elect and his team.
\nOn Tuesday, LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced border security and immigration measures aimed at placating Trump, including hiring hundreds of new police and border officers, and aligning Canada\u2019s asylum system with the United States\u2019 to quickly weed out claims that do not meet requirements.
\nOttawa has also proposed setting up a joint Canada-US \u201cstrike force\u201d to combat transnational crime groups, and beef up its military spending.
\nTrump in his post also said the United States was subsidising Canada \u201cto the tune of over $1,000,000,000 a year. Makes no sense!\u201d
\nIt was unclear what Trump\u2019s figure was referring to.
\nAccording to US data for 2022, the trade deficit with Canada was $53.5 billion. Most economists dismiss this as insignificant when compared to the $909 billion worth of goods and services traded by the two countries.
\nJulien Martin, an economics professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, explained that for Republicans under Trump, \u201ctrade deficits are a big problem for the American economy.\u201d
\nThey represent \u201cjob losses and the decline of the manufacturing sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMany Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,\u201d posts Trump on Truth Social OTTAWA US President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday it would be \u201ca great idea\u201d for Canada to become the 51st US state, teasing on social media that \u201cmany Canadians\u201d welcome the idea, as Ottawa is wracked by political turmoil. \u201cMany Canadians want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-450523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n