During a Super Bowl pre-show interview, President Donald Trump stated he is serious about Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States.
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“Yeah it is,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier when asked whether his talk of annexing Canada is “a real thing”—as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently warned.
“I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen,” he said. “Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially a subsidy to Canada?”
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The U.S. doesn’t provide financial aid to Canada but purchases numerous products from it, especially because Canada is rich in natural resources like oil. In recent years, the trade balance has shifted, with the U.S. importing more from Canada, leading to a trade deficit of $72 billion in 2023, primarily due to energy imports.
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Trump has frequently proposed that Canada could benefit from becoming the 51st state, although this idea is not popular among Canadians, who generally oppose it.
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“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing,” Trudeau said, according to CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster. “They’re very aware of our resources of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.”
