- Donald Trump continues the ‘joke’ that Canada should become a state
Donald Trump has once again antagonized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he said Canada could become a US state if its neighbors to the north are unable to pay the 25 percent tariff he is threatening.
The president-elect referred to the Canadian leader as “Governor Junstin Trudeau” in a post on Truth Social.
He further fooled him by calling his country the ‘Great State of Canada’.
Earlier this month, reports emerged of Trump meeting with Trudeau in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 29.
Trudeau told Trump during their meeting that imposing such a high import tax on Canada would completely destroy their economy.
The president-elect then proposed that Canada become the 51st American state.
According to sources present at the meeting, the prime minister and others at the table laughed nervously at the suggestion.
Trudeau also told Trump he would not want Canada to be part of the US because it would be a “very liberal” state. Trump then suggested it might be two separate states, one more conservative and the other liberal, to keep the balance.
Donald Trump further embraces his ‘joke’ saying Canada should be the 51st US state by calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘governor’ in a post on Truth Social
A Canadian minister, Dominic LeBlanc, clarified that Trump’s comment and subsequent back-and-forth was a “joke” and was being taken as such.
But now the former and future US president has repeatedly made fun of Trudeau and referred to the formation of Canada as a state.
“It was a pleasure to recently have dinner with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote in Truth Social on Tuesday morning just after noon.
“I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so we can continue our in-depth conversations on tariffs and trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for everyone!” he added.
Earlier this month, just a few days after the meeting, Trump also publicly embraced his joke, posting a photo of himself standing next to a Canadian flag overlooking a mountain range.
He captioned the image: “Oh Canada!”
Trump and Trudeau met in Florida last month.
It came after Trump posted on social media that he wants to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico if the North American neighbors don’t take action to suppress illegal crossings into the US across shared borders.
Trump’s new nickname for Trudeau is “Governor” and he called the neighbors to the north the “Great State of Canada”
Trudeau went to West Palm Beach, Florida for dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home on November 29, after the president-elect threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico
The crossing from Canada represents a much smaller number of illegal pedestrians than those from Mexico, but Trump wants to punish both countries and pressure them to do more to help with the migrant crisis.
In the same post last month, Trump also threatened an additional 10 percent tariff on China after Beijing failed to impose the death penalty on drug dealers as promised.
Part of Trump’s tough policy proposals on the border crisis is to stem the flow of deadly Chinese-made fentanyl, which typically enters the U.S. by drug traffickers who bring it across the southern border.