While left-wing Canadians reject the idea of a Trump takeover, some say they would jump at the chance to put Donald in charge.
The US president-elect this week made his strongest attempt yet to take over Canada, offering its people a 60 percent tax cut if they agree to join the US and become the 51st US state.
While Trump’s offer was theoretical, many Canadians fed up with left-wing Trudeau said they would welcome him with open arms.
They say they would appreciate the tax breaks and other benefits that come with being part of the world’s largest economy.
Maxime Bernier, founder and leader of the right-wing People’s Party of Canada, told DailyMail.com that some Canadians are looking to Trump after a decade of “woke” liberal rule.
Among the Canadians who have supported Trump’s plan is Bruce McGonigal, who says it would usher in an “economic boom” for Canada.
“We could keep the emergency room open,” McGonigal wrote on X.
“The dollars we earn would also have much more value than the weak Canadian dollar.”
Self-proclaimed ‘Maple MAGA’ TikToker Mario Zelaya says Trump’s Canadian tax cut ‘sounds pretty good’
Alberta independence activist Terris Kolybaba says it would be easier to own guns in a Canada that follows US laws
Mario Zelaya, who calls himself a “maple MAGA,” said a 60 percent tax cut “sounds pretty good.”
Another Canadian conservative, Melissa Rogers, asked, “Who can say no” to Trump’s offer.
Other Canadians are pushing for fewer restrictions on gun ownership, lower immigration and other policies aligned with the new Trump administration.
Terris Kolybaba, a member of an independence group in Alberta, said “everything will be cheaper” if the U.S. joins Canada.
“You have the right to bear arms, which you should have: the right to protect yourself,” Kolybaba told CBC News.
‘It’s no problem across the border.’
Despite their enthusiasm, a poll of 1,520 people by Leger found that 82 per cent of Canadians were opposed to becoming the 51st state, while 5 per cent said they did not know.
Support for a merger was higher among men, younger Canadians and those living in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Given the low level of support for a policy that sounds unpatriotic to many Canadians, no major political party has supported Trump’s plan.
Bernier, a renegade conservative who formed his offshoot party in 2018, says his party is firmly against secession from Canadian independence.
But some of his compatriots are looking to Trump after years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal leadership, he told DailyMail.com.
“The people who say yes to Trump’s crazy idea may be because they’re so angry about the Trudeau government and all the wokeism,” he said.
They worry about “open borders, the big deficit, huge taxes and inflation,” he added.
Still, Bernier said he didn’t believe support for a merger was growing in Canada.
Trump has in recent days proposed a territorial expansion to Canada, Greenland and Panama, and has mocked Prime Minister Trudeau by calling him “governor.”
On Christmas Day he escalated his campaigns against the governments of both Panama and Canada.
“Merry Christmas to everyone, including the great soldiers of China, who lovingly, but illegally, operate the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in the building 110 years ago), always ensuring that the United States brings in billions of dollars. Dollars in “repair money,” but will have absolutely no say in “anything,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Also against Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose state taxes are far too high, but if Canada were to become our 51st state, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected become like no other country anywhere in the world.
“The same goes for the people of Greenland, who need the United States for national security purposes and want the US to be there, and we will!”
Trump recently posted that “Canadians want Canada to be the 51st state” and offered an image of himself atop a mountain peak mapping the surrounding area next to a Canadian flag.
Trudeau has suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair recently met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump’s threats to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods.
Public Safety Secretary Dominic LeBlanc, who attended Friday’s dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump’s comments were a joke.
“The president told jokes. The president teased us. It was obviously not a serious comment on that issue in any way,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa.
Trump made the stark declaration Sunday evening that he would like to buy Greenland when he announced his choice for ambassador to Denmark, PayPal co-founder Ken Howery.
“For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump recently posted that “Canadians want Canada to be the 51st state” and offered an image of himself atop a mountain peak mapping the surrounding area next to a Canadian flag.
The pair recently met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump’s threats to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods.
Trump showed interest in purchasing Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark, during his first presidential term.
He was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities – who reiterated that the island was ‘open for business, not for sale’ – before any talks could take place.
The Danish Prime Minister’s Office said in its own statement that the government “looks forward to welcoming the new US ambassador.” And the government looks forward to working with the new administration.”
“In a complex security political situation such as the one we are currently experiencing, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,” the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland other than to say it is “not for sale, but open to cooperation.”
Trump has renewed plans for Greenland after the president-elect suggested this weekend that the US could regain control of the Panama Canal if nothing is done to ease the rising shipping costs required to use the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean connects.
Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will remain so,” but Trump fired back on his social media site: “We’ll see about that!”