Donald Trump is 'not trolling' Canada with 51st state threats and Doug Ford agrees

It may seem as though Canada’s leaders have few points on which they agree with the U.S. president. But recent remarks by Donald Trump and Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggest one common opinion: Neither thinks the president is bluffing in his remarks about Canada. On Tuesday, Trump sat down for an interview with TIME magazine’s senior political correspondent Eric Cortellessa and editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs. The “100 Days” interview , which was published Friday, touched on a wide range of issues, including tariffs, the economy, immigration, presidential power, and the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East. At one point, the questions turned to Canada. “You’ve talked about acquiring Greenland, taking control of  the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state,” Cortellessa said. “Maybe you’re trolling a little bit on that one. I don’t know.” Trump’s answer was short: “Actually, no, I’m not.” Cortellessa then followed up by asking: “Well, do you want to grow the American empire?” Trump’s answer to that was longer, with most of it focused on Canada. “I think Canada, what you said that, ‘Well, that one, I might be trolling.’ But I’m really not trolling,” he said. “Canada is an interesting case. We lose $200 to $250 billion a year supporting Canada. And I asked a man who I called Governor Trudeau. I said: Why? Why do you think we’re losing so much money supporting you? Do you think that’s right? Do you think that’s appropriate for another country to make it possible, for a country to sustain, and he was unable to give me an answer, but it costs us over $200 billion a year to take care of Canada?” Trump added: “We’re taking care of their military. We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us … We want to make our own cars. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.” In a separate fact-checking article , the magazine noted: “It’s possible (Trump) was referring to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which in 2024, amounted to $63 billion for goods. But that number still is far short of $200 billion.” On the subject of “taking care of their military,” the magazine noted that the U.S. Department of Defense requested a budget of $849 billion for the 2025 fiscal year, but pointed out that it does not break down spending by region. It added that the U.S. is responsible for 60 per cent of the cost of the radar system of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), although that costs just $20 billion. The topic of Canada was dropped after Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, told the interviewers they had only about 10 minutes left. “OK, we’ll move quickly then,” Cortellessa said. “Last note: Do you want to be remembered as a president who expanded American territory?” Trump’s response: “Wouldn’t mind.” Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered direct warnings about Trump during a speech at at the Public Policy Forum’s 2025 Canada Growth Summit in Toronto on Thursday. “We can no longer afford to have our economic success depend on such an unreliable partner,” he told the crowd, adding that he wasn’t referring to Americans in general. “There’s one person and that person is called President Trump,” he said. “He’s openly taking aim at Ontario’s economy, threatening tariffs, disrupting supply chains, putting all of us at risk.” Later in his remarks he said of Trump: “He actually wants to destroy our economy. It’s not just words. He wants to do it. He wants to destroy our auto sector. He wants to destroy our manufacturing sector. He wants to try to take over Canada, and I can tell you: Canada is not for sale. We will never ever be the 51st state.” He had to pause for applause at this point. Later, in a question-and-answer session, Ford was asked how well he thought his message was being received by the White House. Ford replied: “Sometimes I think the cheese slips off the cracker with this guy. He wakes up in the morning … and even his people around him are not too sure what he’s going to do or what he’s going to say. And it’s pretty scary that, you know, one sentence out of the most powerful person in the world can change markets.” He added: “It’s about certainty. And he’s created uncertainty around the world.”

• Carney admits Trump talked about Canada becoming 51st state during call last month
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