Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that Canada has no plans to become the 51st state of the United States.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said.
Speaking to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC’s “Inside” on Sunday, Trudeau discussed President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated comments that Canada could become part of the United States. -United.
“I know that as a good negotiator, he likes to keep people off balance. The 51st state, that’s not going to happen,” he said.
The prime minister, facing growing unpopularity in the polls ahead of national elections, announced he would resign in March after his Liberal party chose a new leader.
Trump recently upped the ante with repeated comments about annexing Canada.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you look at what it looks like, and it would be much better for national security as well,” Trump said during a news conference at his home in Mar-a Lago, in Florida, Tuesday.
“Canada and the United States would really be something.”
He even went so far as to refer to the Prime Minister as “Governor Trudeau”, a position usually held by the leaders of American states.
But on television Sunday, Trudeau said he wasn’t paying attention to those shots.
“I tend to focus on the nitty-gritty, not people picking nicknames for me. I mean, if I was that thin-skinned, I probably wouldn’t last this long in politics.”
One of the main reasons Canada won’t join America, Trudeau said, is simple: Canadians don’t want to do it.
In trying to define their national identity, Trudeau said Canadians are likely to say, among other things, “we are not Americans.”
Earlier this week, Trudeau put it more bluntly, saying there was “not a chance in hell” that the two countries would become one.
Trudeau said what concerns him is the impact of the tariffs on Canadians and Americans. Tensions between Trump and Canada have been simmering since the president’s election announced his plan Implement tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada.
This decision would have a significant impact on the Canadian economy and could result in retaliatory tariffs.
“Canadians are incredibly proud to be Canadian, but people are now talking about that rather than the impact of the 25 percent tariffs,” Trudeau said. “No American wants to pay 25 percent more for electricity or oil and gas from Canada.”
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media that she met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence over the weekend to discuss the importance of energy partnerships between the United States and Canada. Alberta is a major exporter of oil and gas.
