President Donald Trump is not giving up his vision of Canada joining the US as its 51st state - and said the northern neighbor could even 'keep' its national anthem.
Ever since Trump was sworn into office in January for his second term, he hasn't taken his eyes off the prize - Canada.
The POTUS has been floating the idea of merging the northern neighbor into the US and going so far as to tease Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by giving him the nickname, 'Governor of Canada.'
Trade war tensions between the two countries are also beginning to ramp up, with the US inflicting 25 percent tariffs on goods, including steel and aluminum, which Canada has been less than happy about.
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Trudeau snapped back that counter-tariffs would be applied to US goods in retaliation, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to hike electricity prices or shut off the power entirely to 1.5 million US citizens residing in Minnesota, New York, and Michigan.
Meanwhile, Trump has said Canada can dodge the tariff hikes entirely - if it becomes the US' 'cherished 51st state.'
Despite the friction, the POTUS is not showing any signs of giving up and reiterated his intensions of taking Canada, and also Greenland, while in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday (March 13).
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Trump taunted the country further by saying Canada 'only works as a state' because America is 'spending $200 billion a year to subsidize it.'
Yet under the US wing, Trump said it would be 'one of the great states anywhere.'
He continued that the US and Canada would form 'the most incredible country visually' and the division between the two nations was created by someone drawing 'an artificial line right through.'
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As an incentive, the president also said Canada could keep its national anthem if it joined the US.
"It’s so perfect as a great and cherished state. Keeping 'O Canada', the national anthem. I love it, I think it’s great, keep it.
"But it’ll be for the state, one of our greatest states. Maybe our greatest state," Trump added.
On the trade war, he apologized to Canadians but doubled down on his stance that the US 'don't need anything' from the country, adding: "They need us, we really don't need them."
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"And we have to do this, I’m sorry, we have to do this."
If it were to happen and Canada joined the USA, the North American map would be drastically reimagined and transformed - as would the political landscape.
Only Hawaii would be left as the only non-contiguous state while Canada's hefty population of almost 42 million would make it the largest state of all.
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Politically speaking, this would make it bigger than California and necessitate two senators as well as 55 House seats, in turn reducing the number of other state delegations to make room for the new Canadian members.
Essentially, Canada would become the prized possession in all presidential races and could dwarf the impact of swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
As for taking Greenland, Trump commented: "Well, I think it’ll happen. And I’m just thinking I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security - international."
Rutte responded: "I don't want to drag NATO into that."
Topics: Canada, Justin Trudeau, Donald Trump, US News, Politics
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