Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rejected the idea of making Canada a U.S. state, despite the threat by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to use economic force against the country.
According to a report by Dawn News on Wednesday, the Canadian Prime Minister said in a post on X, “There is not a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States of America. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partners.”
Earlier, the U.S. President-elect was asked during his speech at Mar-a-Lago if he was considering using military force to acquire Canada. “No, economic force,” Donald Trump said. “Because Canada and the United States, that would really be something.”
Donald Trump has long complained about Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. and recently told reporters that the border between Canada and the U.S. is an artificially drawn line, threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada.
Canada sends 75% of all goods and services exports south of the border. Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly also said that Trump’s comments show a complete lack of understanding of how Canada is a strong country, adding, “We will never back down in the face of threats.”