Loading ...Trump Says He’s Serious About Canada
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed that he is serious about Canada being annexed by the United States.
His statement comes amid an escalating trade war between the two neighbors, and follows a spate of comments from Trump claiming that Canada would be better off as the 51st state of the US.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump reiterated his prior claims that the US subsidizes its northern neighbor by hundreds of billions of dollars a year, claiming a massive bilateral trade imbalance between them.
“It costs us $200 billion a year in subsidy to keep Canada afloat,” he said, adding that the US does not need Canadian exports such as cars, lumber, and energy.
“When I say they should be a state, I mean that. I really mean that.”
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau last week, has categorically denied that Canada will ever become part of the US.
“We will never, ever, in any way, shape, or form, be part of the United States,” Carney stated after being sworn in last week. Both Canada’s national identity and “the economics” make Trump’s idea untenable, he said.
The former central banker has vowed to win the trade war with the US, stressing that Canada will need to strengthen its economy and seek alternative trade partners.
Last week, Ottawa imposed 25% tariffs on nearly $30 billion in US imports in response to 25% levies announced by Trump. The US president pulled back on imposing 50% tariffs last week after Canada walked back plans to increase them on American energy imports by a quarter.
Ottawa is ready to sit down and discuss the trade war with Washington, “when Canada is shown respect as a sovereign nation,”Carney stressed in a statement on Thursday.
RT
We are asked to decide between Barnum & Bailey, or the WEF. I’ll take the circus every day of the week, but I’m at a loss as to how this proceeds. If the battle is head on, Trump will lose. Canadians have never had to deal with the reality that Trump exposes, so they will, by choice, remain in a comfortable unreality. Then, of course, there will be hell to pay, although it’s not an all together bad choice. Trump will squeeze, and we will suffer, but sooner or later America will back off. Although I doubt it, Trump might squeeze for his entire term. Canada will cave before then. We can be had, but it will take determination.
I have to say, Trump knows this would be a massive win for the U.S. Imagine swallowing the second biggest country in the world, and all it’s magnificent resources, along with a population much like its own! Only Trump would have the audacity, yet it is a pretty obvious move. It’s strange that it hasn’t come up these past few decades. It’s even stranger that Canada has not even considered the possibility. I know I haven’t. Yet, here we are. It’s Trump’s world. We’re just living in it!
It will actually be a Loss for Trump if it comes about
This would flip the elections …2 more Dem Senators …a bunch more Dem House members and
…..How many electoral college votes does a State of 40 Million Get
I can see perhaps Canada being a Peurto Rico type relationship
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, meaning it is governed by U.S. laws but does not have the same rights as a state, such as voting representation in Congress or the ability to vote in presidential elections. It is officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and has a degree of self-governance.
Excellent point FGC. Might be what Trump is shooting for anyway? Art of the deal. Put forth an over the top proposal like 51st state that is outrageous and likely unworkable, and get a compromise that gains just about everything you really wanted in the first place where the other side can agree and save face.