Trump suggested Canada could become 51st state to Justin Trudeau: report

Donald Trump suggested “maybe Canada should become the 51st state” when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told him his proposed tariffs would “kill the Canadian economy,” Fox News’ reports citing unnamed sources.
Trudeau met Trump at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last week, after Trump threatened last Monday a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico unless the countries reduce migrants and drugs coming into the U.S.
The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner by a distance, accounting for approximately 75 percent of Canada’s exports. The countries currently trade under a largely duty-free deal, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was signed into law by Trump and took effect in 2020.
Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy told Special Report host Bret Baier on Monday evening: “We are told that when Trudeau told President-elect Trump that new tariffs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked to him that if Canada can’t survive without ripping off the U.S. the tune of one hundred billion dollars a year, then maybe Canada should become the 51st state and Trudeau could become its governor.”
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s transition team and Trudeau’s office for comment via email.
On Saturday, Trump called the talks “very productive” and said the men discussed topics including fentanyl, illegal immigration, and trade.
Trudeau told reporters it had been an “excellent conversation,” later writing on X, formerly Twitter: “Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again.”
U.S. Senator-elect Dave McCormick, who won a tightly fought race in Pennsylvania, on Saturday shared a picture of himself sitting at a table with Trump and Trudeau at the Mar-a-Lago meeting.
Also at the table were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who Trump has picked to lead the Interior Department, and Mike Waltz, who Trump has tapped for national security adviser. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff, were also seen sitting around the table.
This is a breaking news story.
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