At first it seemed like he was joking. Not that it was funny, but then, the remarks Trump usually claimed were jokes rarely were. But he didn’t say this was a joke. And he kept saying it: Canada should join the US as the 51st state. Trump also referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as ‘Governor Trudeau’, and began applying tariffs to Canadian goods that soon reached trade war levels.
This did not go over well with Canadians. That legendarily polite people showed that they could indeed be rude when that was the only language the other person seemed to understand. Informal boycotts of US goods followed, along with an outpouring of patriotism rarely seen in Canada. Canadians even booed the American national anthem when it was played at hockey games. The politicians of Canada were, with a few exceptions, united in their opposition to the idea – and on April 28, Canadians turned out in numbers not seen in three decades to elect Mark Carney’s Liberal Party to government, largely based on their firm rejection of Trump’s expansionism and tariffs.
Trump largely stopped mentioning the idea as other matters occupied his attention, but there is little indication that Canada or its people have forgotten.
