Washington DC: US President elect Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested using “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state. Trump cited concerns over US military and imbalances in the trade. Trump's statement came with just two weeks less for his return to the White House.
Trump even asserted that his administration would impose higher tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. The US President-elect did not even refuse to rule out military action to get the Panama Canal and Greenland. When asked about the possibility of ruling a military confrontation to secure US control over the two regions, Trump said that he would not commit that.
Trump made these remarks during a press briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He will assume office on January 20. He also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America". Trump assured that he would ask NATO allies for more defence spending.
The US President-elect has been propagating the idea of making Canada the 51st state of America. Notably, in his several social media post, he had mentioned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the "Governor Trudeau".
In November last year, Trump also announced to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods after assuming office.
After Trump's remarks, the Canadian PM slammed the US President-elect. "There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner," Trudeau said in his X post.
During the same press conference, Trump issued a stern warning to militant group Hamas to release all the hostages that it kidnapped during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The US President-elect said "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if hostages are not released before he assumes office.
