Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told Canadian union and business leaders that it’s no joke President Trump wants to absorb Canada and tap into the nation’s mineral supply.
His comments were picked up on a hot mic that was quickly unplugged.
Since returning to power last month, Trump has expressed an interest in the U.S. acquiring foreign territories including Canada, Greenland, the Gaza Strip and the Panama Canal.
To what extent Trump is actually willing to take action to expand U.S. borders is questionable. Some believe such rhetoric is being used to distract from other issues or as a negotiating tactic to force a dialogue about other ways to appease the U.S.
On Friday, according to the Toronto Star, Trudeau warned that his conversations with Trump have led him to believe the president isn’t playing around.
Trump has on more than one occasion suggested Canada should become America’s 51st state. He’s also threatened to place tariffs on Canadian goods, making them harder to see in the U.S.
According to Trudeau, acquiring Canadian natural resources like copper, gold, potash and diamonds is all part of Trump’s plan.
“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” the prime minister reportedly said after media members were dismissed from an event where he was speaking.
“Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country,” Trudeau said. “And it is a real thing.”
Trump said he believes economic pressure rather than military might is the most effective way to force Canada into submission. America’s neighbor to the north also produces a lot of petroleum and natural gas.
Canadian Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc said Trump’s “unproductive” antics are no longer a laughing matter.
“The joke is over,” LeBlanc said Wednesday. “It’s a way for him, I think, to sow confusion, to agitate people, to create chaos knowing this will never happen.”
Trudeau posted on X last month that “there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”
With News Wire Service