Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught on a hot mic addressing Donald Trump’s plan for Canada to become part of the United States, calling it “a real thing” and “a real worry” for the border country, The Toronto Star and others reported.
“Are we safe? Excellent,” Trudeau first said in audio heard by the Star, according to a Friday report. “I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state.”
“They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those,” Trudeau also said. “But Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country, and it is a real thing.”
The story was also reported by CNN’s Paula Newton and Anna Cooban. While speaking to Jake Tapper Friday, Newton explained, “Well, I can tell you that for the last few weeks, really, ever since Justin Trudeau met with Donald Trump the first time in November, that he does believe that the president is serious about inviting Canada to become the 51st state.”
“And he wanted to make sure it was on the record that the business leaders there knew what they were up against,” she continued.
After playing the hot mic audio, Newton added, “A real thing, what does that mean, Jake? It means that the signals that they are getting from the president and his allies is the fact that they believe that there is no win-win when it comes to trading with Canada.”
“They believe it should be win, lose for Canada. They don’t even understand why they have to negotiate. The issue here is that Canada has already put up a lot of resources to beef up the border the way Donald Trump had insisted. And yet the prime minister is putting everyone in that room on notice.”
On Monday Trump said he would pause tariffs on imports from Canada after Trudeau agreed to spend $1.3 billion on border security.
“Canada has agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border, and to finally end the deadly scourge of drugs like Fentanyl that have been pouring into our Country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, while destroying their families and communities all across our Country,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trudeau previously insisted there is on chance Canada will join the United States. “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” he wrote on X. “Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.”
