Although Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, it will actually be a while before he is gone. What Trudeau did was prorogue parliament until March 4, which means it will not be in session but will not be dissolved. During this period, the Liberal Party will select a new leader, after which Trudeau says he will finally depart from the scene, at least a couple of months from now. Yet Donald Trump wasted no time in commemorating his departure with — you guessed it — yet another call for Canada to become the 51st state of the United States of America.
Early on Monday afternoon, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned. If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!”
At this point, it’s hard to sustain the idea that Trump is just joking. This started out as a rhetorical jab, albeit one so sharp and stinging that it catapulted Trudeau into the downward spiral that culminated in his pending resignation, but now it looks increasingly as if he is serious. Fox News reported back in early December that during their first post-election meeting, Trump told Trudeau that “Canada has failed the U.S. border by allowing large amounts of drugs and people across the border, including illegal immigrants from over 70 different countries.”
The once-and-future president “became more animated when it came to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which he estimated to be more than $100 billion,” and told his vapid Canadian counterpart that “if Canada cannot fix the border issues and trade deficit, he will levy a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods on day one when he returns to office.”
Trudeau immediately played the left’s only card: victimhood. He told Trump that he couldn’t impose such a tariff “because it would kill the Canadian economy completely.” To that, Trump shot back: “So your country can't survive unless it's ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion?” Trump “suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously.” Trump pushed on, telling Trudeau “that prime minister is a better title, though he could still be governor of the 51st state.”
Fox noted that “while sources say the exchange got many laughs, Trump delivered the message that he expected change by January 20.” Trudeau went away knowing very well that he wasn’t going to get away with playing the same game that he played with Obama or Biden. Neither of them would have threatened tariffs over the flow of illegal migrants and drugs into the United States in the first place, and if they had offered any criticism of Canadian policy at all, it would have been toothless rhetoric that would have been forgotten as soon as the meeting was over.
Since then, Trump has repeated his call for Canada to become the 51st state several times. His Monday Truth Social post offered the fullest explanation yet of his rationale. Canada is a massive welfare case, and the U.S. can’t keep shelling out for it: “The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat.” If Canada is going to depend upon the U.S. for its very survival, then it should end the pretense and join the Union.
Trump’s words will be again dismissed as the ravings of Bad Orange Man or a bad joke on Justin Trudeau that he insists, like your drunk uncle at Christmas dinner, on repeating over and over, but he has genuine considerations in mind. Whether by a formal merger or by means of economic hegemony, if the U.S. doesn’t get Canada, China likely will. The United States would be much stronger against the threat from China, and it would quell Chinese influence on its northern border if Canada and the U.S. were to merge.
Related: Canada, the Panama Canal, and Now Greenland. What’s Behind Trump’s Expansionist Rhetoric?
The same rationale underlies his oft-repeated calls for the acquisition of Greenland, which he also restated on Monday, saying, “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA.’ My son, Don Jr, and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights. Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
A United States plus Canada and Greenland would mean the end of Chinese adventurism in both areas. There is a method to Trump’s apparent madness. He is, as always, working with an eye toward doing what he has promised to do: make America great again.
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