As the tariff war between Canada and the U.S. heats up, President Donald Trump on Thursday once again pushed hard to make Canada the 51st state.
And the question keeps coming up every time he does: Is he serious?
On the same day, even his own nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada suggested he wasn’t.
But Trump, who has issued tariffs against steel and aluminum imports and threatened specific tariffs on Canada to go into effect next month, told reporters Thursday “I love Canada” but he’s “not going to bend.”
“The United States can’t subsidize a country for $200 billion a year, We don’t need their cars. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need anything that they give. We do it because we want to be helpful. But it comes a point when you just can’t do that,” he said in the Oval Office, arguing Canada, a longtime ally, would be much better off without tariffs — as part of the U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Mar. 13, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Hours before Trump spoke to reporters, Pete Hoekstra, the president’s nominee, was on Capitol Hill, being questioned about Trump’s 51st state idea as he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A longtime Michigan resident who previously served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Hoekstra affirmed Canada’s independence when asked by Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons if maybe Trump should stop joking about making Canada the 51st state.
“Canada is a sovereign state, yes,” he testified.
Pete Hoekstra, candidate for U.S. Ambassador to Canada, testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the U.S. Ambassadors to Mexico, Japan and Canada, Mar. 13, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
“The president and the relationship between the former prime minister in Canada, the characteristics and nature of that relationship, I don’t know, is it one where there is humor?,” he added.
Canadian leaders see Trump’s threat as no joking matter.
“What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that’ll make it easier to annex us,” former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned.
Trump, kept taunting him by referring to him as “Governor Trudeau.”
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak after Carney won the race to become leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Mar. 9, 2025.
Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Trudeau’s successor, Canadian Liberal Party leader Mark Carney, echoed Trudeau’s defiance.
“America is not Canada, and Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said last weekend after he being elected.
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford, who threatened to put a surcharge on electricity exports to neighboring U.S. states, has also blasted Trump’s rhetoric.
“Canada is not for sale and will never be the 51st state. Our supply sector is so intertwined, you can’t unscramble an egg,” he said an interview with CNBC Tuesday.
Trucks head to the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Canada and Detroit, Michigan on the first day of President Donald Trump’s new 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, Mar. 4, 2025 in Windsor, Canada.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
This week, Trump highlighted a new twist to his argument — arguing the border drawn between the U.S. and Canada was just arbitrary.
“If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it between Canada and the U.S., just a straight artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many, many decades ago, and makes no sense,” he said Thursday. “This would be the most incredible country visually.”
“‘O, Canada,” the national anthem, I love it. I think it’s great. Keep it,” he said. “But it’ll be for the state, one of our greatest states, maybe our greatest state.”
Sunlight shines through the flags of Canada and the United States, held together by a protester outside on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Feb. 1, 2025.
Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File
Adding an additional state requires congressional approval, according to the U.S. Constitution. Historically, residents of a non-U.S. territory that joined the union voted in a referendum before petitioning statehood. Polls show it’s likely proud Canadians might not agree to go along.
Not to mention that many political experts think most residents of a formerly Canada-51st state — would vote — Democratic blue.
