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Starting in December 2024, then President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters have expressed support for Canadian annexation into the United States of America as its 51st state. This came after months of tarrif threats on Canadian goods, and renewed demands by Trump for Canada to increase its military spending and prioritize border security. Politicians from across the Canadian political spectrum have dismissed calls for annexation, and most Canadians polled were not in favor.

Pre-inauguration proposals

In December 2024, President-elect Trump suggested Canada consider becoming the 51st U.S. state if Prime Minister Trudeau felt his planned tariffs would hurt Canada’s economy during a tense meeting with him over trade deficits and border security at Mar-a-Lago. He later referred to Trudeau as the “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada” and said that he looked forward to meeting the "Governor" again to continue their talks on "Tariffs and Trade". During an appearance on Fox News, Ontario Premier Doug Ford jokingly stated that this was Trump's attempt at revenge for the War of 1812 by saying; "I guess he’s still upset that in 1812 we burned down the White House and he’s holding a grudge after 212 years. He’s a funny guy".

In response to Trudeau suggesting that Canada's liberal electorate would skew American politics, Trump suggested that Canada could enter the Union as two states, one more conservative and one more liberal. Canada has ten provinces and 3 territories.

Independent and leftist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said he would back Trump's plan to bring Canada in as a state if they could expand Canada's state-run health care system to all Americans.

Again, on December 18, 2024, President-elect Trump suggested on his social media platform Truth Social that Canada should become the 51st State of the United States. He expressed displeasure in his belief of the US over subsidizing Canada.

No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense! Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!

— Donald J. Trump, Truth Social

Trump again referred to Trudeau as the "Governor" of Canada in his Christmas post and said that if Canada became the 51st State, Canada's taxes would be reduced by "more than 60%", its businesses would "immediately double in size" and it would become exceptionally militarily protected. He later suggested that NHL legend Wayne Gretzky should run to become the Prime Minister of Canada which he said would soon be known as the "Governor of Canada", which Gretzky would win easily.

Trump reacted to Trudeau's resignation as the Prime Minister of Canada by again suggesting Canada merge with the U.S, saying:

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!!!

— Donald J. Trump, Truth Social

In January 2025, President-elect Trump and his supporters continued talking about the idea of Canada joining the United States. On January 7, 2025, during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, President-elect Trump reiterated his position that Canada should become the 51st state but ruled out the use of military force to annex or acquire Canada, stating that he would instead use "economic force" to pressure Canada into joining the United States. He further commented, "You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, And it would also be much better for national security. They're great, but we're spending hundreds of billions here to protect it."

Canadian reactions

Trump's comments on using economic force to annex Canada have been widely condemned by Canadian politicians. Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that there was "not a snowball's chance in hell" of Canada joining the United States. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre commented "Canada will never be the 51st state. Period. We are a great and independent country." New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh responded with "Cut the crap, Donald. No Canadian wants to join you." and later referred to the President-elect as a "bully." Statements criticizing Trump's comments on Canada joining the US have also been made by other federal and provincial leaders and politicians. An opinion poll from Leger taken after the comments found that only 13% of Canadians supported the idea of a merger with the United States compared to 82% who were opposed, contradicting the claim that there was serious interest in Canada. Another poll from Angus Reid, also taken after President-elect Trump's comments, put support even lower at 6%.

Canadian author Don Tapscott outlaying several terms for the merger including that each Province and Territory would need to maintain its identity, so each Canada would need to be at least 10, or perhaps 13 states or territories. For example, Ontario would become the fifth largest state in the USA with 16 million residents. Next, Canadians must maintain there health care system. Canada spends 11 percent of its GDP on health care and yet they live six years longer with no one uninsured, in contrast in the USA, almost 20% is spent. Then there was additional legal rights including women's healthcare, paid parental leave for men and women, gun control, campaign finance, standardized education funding, and a pro-refugee immigration stance are some issues that would have to be worked out.

U.S. Reactions

One article in Newsweek tried to analyze the economic, social, and geographic implications on the United States. They noted that Canada is slightly larger in population than California, the largest current US State by population, but has about 25 times the land area pf California. However, the economy though is smaller then several US States, including California, New York, and Texas; overall the U.S. economy is ten times the size of Canada at the time. Economically, such a a merger is predicted to increase trade, but result in increased competition for businesses.

References

1. Tawfeeq, Mohammed (2025-01-09). "Trudeau calls Trump's threat to make Canada the 51st state a distraction from tariff fallout". CNN. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
2. "Trump Calls Trudeau 'Governor' Of 'The Great State Of Canada". www.dailywire.com. 2024-12-10. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
3. "Trump takes jab at 'governor' Trudeau". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
4. Ray, Siladitya. "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Reportedly Set To Resign This Week—Here's What To Know". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
5. "Ford appears on Fox News joking Trump tariff threat is retribution for War of 1812 | Globalnews.ca". Global News.
7. "'All for it': Bernie Sanders backs Trump's talk of making Canada the 51st state, with a caveat". The Washington Times.
8. Sharp, Alexandra (2024-12-26). "The 51st Star on the U.S. Flag?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
9. "Truth Social". Truth Social. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
10. "Trump wishes Christmas to 'radical left lunatics'; offers tax cuts to '51st US state' Canada". Hindustan Times. 2024-12-26. Archived from the original on 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
11. ^ "Donald Trump mocks Justin Trudeau by offering Canada to become '51st US state': 'Your country can't survive without…'". Hindustan Times. Dec 26, 2024.
12. Crawley, Mike (January 6, 2025). "Trump responds to Trudeau resignation by suggesting Canada merge with U.S." CBC. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
13. "Truth Social". Truth Social. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
14. "Trump suggests he could use military force to acquire Panama Canal and Greenland and 'economic force' to annex Canada". NBC News. 2025-01-07. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
15. "Trump suggests he could use military force to acquire Panama Canal and Greenland and 'economic force' to annex Canada". NBC News. January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
16. "Trudeau rejects Trump's idea of forcing Canada to become a US state". Reuters. 7 Jan 2025. Retrieved 7 Jan 2025.
17. "Trudeau says no chance Canada joins U.S. as Trump threatens 'economic force' - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
18. Fortinsky, Sarah (2025-01-07). "Canada's Conservative leader slams Trump's '51st state' idea". The Hill. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
19. Jäger, Jarryd (2025-01-03). "WATCH: May claps back at Trump over '51st state' comments, says joke was 'never funny'". Western Standard. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
20. Swanson, Stephen (2025-01-07). "Ontario premier jokes that Canada should buy Minnesota, Alaska in response to Trump's annexation remarks - CBS Minnesota". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
21. "'We are not becoming the 51st state': B.C. Premier says Canada and U.S. need to work together | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
22. "Leger poll suggests 13% of Canadians think Canada should become the 51st American state". The Globe and Mail. 2024-12-10. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
23. Renfrew, Matthew (2024-12-13). "6% of Canadians want Canada to join the United States". Cult MTL. Retrieved 2025-01-12.

• Canada–United States relations
• Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign