Trump Warns of ‘Pain’ for Canada, Suggests It Could Become the 51st State
As the U.S.-Canada trade war intensifies, President Donald Trump proposed a radical solution to the ongoing standoff: Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States. During a press briefing at 2pm EST on Monday, Trump argued that the annexation of Canada would eliminate tariffs and resolve trade deficits, while warning that Canada’s “threshold for pain” would ultimately determine the outcome.
“I’d like to see Canada become our 51st state,” Trump said. “We give them military protection, but we don’t need them for cars, lumber, or energy—we’ve got plenty of that ourselves. The pain would really be theirs in this situation. As a state, things would be much different—no tariffs, no deficits.”
Trump’s comments come amid escalating tensions over his administration’s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods and Canada’s retaliatory measures. The President suggested that Canada’s resistance to U.S. demands was a matter of endurance, implying that their economic pain would force them to reconsider their position—or even consider statehood.
“Their threshold for pain is going to decide this,” Trump said. “If people wanted to play the game right, it’s 100% certain they’d become a state. But some people just want to play games.”
The President’s remarks have drawn criticism from both sides of the border. Canadian officials have yet to comment on the annexation suggestion, but previous polling has shown overwhelming opposition among Canadians to joining the U.S., despite growing frustration with trade disputes. Critics in the U.S. argue that the comments undermine diplomacy and risk further alienating America’s closest ally.
While Trump’s proposal is seen by many as hyperbolic, it underscores the high stakes of the current trade war. With billions of dollars in tariffs affecting key industries and trade relations at a historic low, Trump’s remarks signal that the conflict is far from resolution. Whether Canada will bend under the pressure—or rally against it—remains to be seen.
Full Transcript
When asked “Is there anything he [Trudeau] can give you at first game?”
Trump: “Let me talk again to also, like you said, we have big deficits with Canada, like we do with all countries. I mean, I look at some of the deals made, I say, ‘Who the hell made these deals? They are so bad.’ But with Canada, I have a talk with him, and you maybe know, maybe not, we’re going to meet again or talk again at three o’clock, right after my next meeting, and we’ll see what happens. I can’t tell you what he’s going to agree to or if he’ll change his mind on the tariffs.
We can always look—well, I’d like to see Canada become our 51st state. We give them protection, military protection. We don’t need them to build our cars. I’d rather see Detroit or South Carolina or any one of our Tennessee—any one of our states—build the cars. They could do it very easily. We don’t need them for the cars. We don’t need them for lumber. We don’t need them for anything. We don’t need them for energy. We have more energy than they do. We don’t need them for energy.
So I say, why are we doing this? Why are we willing to lose between $100 billion and $200 billion? As a state, it’s different. As a state, it’s much different, and there are no tariffs—which I’d love to see that. But some people say that would be a long shot. If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100% certain that they become a state. But a lot of people like to play the game because they don’t have a threshold of the pain, and they would be so bad. But not a lot—the pain would be really theirs [Canada’s].
So we’re going to meet again following that three o’clock.”
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