Trump says he’s serious about Canada becoming 51st condition

By Jill Colvin, Associated Press

Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump said he seriously wanted to want Canada to become the 51st state in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday during the Super Bowl Preshow.

“Yes,” said Trump to Fox News Channel Bret Bret when he was asked if his speech on the annex to Canada was “a real thing” – as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently warned.

“I think Canada would be much better being the 51st state because we lose $ 200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let it happen, “he said. “Why are we paying $ 200 billion a year, essentially a grant to Canada?”

The United States does not subsidize Canada. The United States bought products from the nation rich in natural resources, including products such as oil. While the commercial difference in goods has increased in recent years to $ 72 billion in 2023, the deficit largely reflected American imports of Canadian energy.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada would be better off if he agreed to become the 51st American state – a deeply unpopular perspective among Canadians.

Trudeau said on Friday during a closed session with business leaders and the work that Trump was talking about Canada the 51st American state was “a real thing” and linked to the desire for access to the country’s natural resources .

“Mr. Trump gives the mind that the easiest way to do so is to absorb our country and that it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on …”, said Trudeau, according to CBC, diffuser Public from Canada. “They are very aware of our resources of what we have, and they want to benefit from it.”

Addressing journalists in the Air Force One on Sunday as he went to the Super Bowl match in New Orleans, Trump continued to threaten a country that has long been one of the nearest allies of the United States. He said Canada was “not viable as a country” without American trade and warned that the founding member of NATO can no longer depend on the United States for military protection.

“You know, they don’t pay much for the military. And the reason they don’t pay much is that they assume that we are going to protect them, “he said. “It is not a supposition that they can do because – why do we protect another country?”

In the interview with Fox, which was pre-tape this weekend in Florida, Trump also said that he had not seen enough action in Canada and Mexico to avoid the prices he had threatened to impose on the two largest trade partners in the country once by 30. The extension of the day is in place.

“No, it’s not good enough,” he said. “Something should happen. It is not durable. And I change it.

Trump last week agreed with a 30 -day break on its slap plan in Mexico and Canada with a 25% rate on all imports, with the exception of Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity , which would be taxed at 10%, after the countries have taken measures to call its concerns concerning border security and drug trafficking.

On board the Air Force One, Trump said that he would announce a 25% rate on Monday on all steel and aluminum imports in the United States, including Canada and Mexico, and reveal a plan of prices reciprocal later in the week.

“Very simply, it is if they charge us, we charge them,” he said.

Trump’s participation in the Super Bowl interview marked a return to tradition. The presidents generally granted a rebuilding to the network broadcasting the game, the most watched television event of the year. But Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, were incoherent in their participation.