Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that Canada has no intention of becoming the 51st state in the United States.
“It won't happen,” he said.
Speaking to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC's “Inside” show on Sunday, Trudeau discussed President-elect Donald Trump's repeated comments that Canada could become part of the United States.
“I know as a successful negotiator he likes to keep people off balance,” he said. “In the 51st state, that's not going to happen.”
The Prime Minister, who faced growing unpopularity in opinion polls ahead of the national election, announced that he would step down in March after his Liberal Party chooses a new leader.
Trump has upped the ante recently with his repeated comments about annexing Canada.
“Get rid of that artificially drawn line, take a look at what it would look like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a news conference at his Florida home on Tuesday.
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something.”
He even went so far as to call the Prime Minister “Governor Trudeau,” a position usually held by US state leaders.
But on television Sunday, Trudeau said he didn't care about those jabs.
“I tend to focus on the substantive things, not on people picking titles for me. I mean, if I were weak, I probably wouldn't last long in politics.”
Trudeau said one of the main reasons Canada won't join America is simple: Canadians don't want to.
When trying to define their national identity, Trudeau said Canadians are likely to say “we're not Americans,” among other things.
Earlier this week, Trudeau put it more bluntly, saying there wasn't “a chance in hell” that the two countries would become one.
Trudeau said his concern is the impact of the tariffs on Canadians and Americans. Tensions between Trump and Canada have been rising since the president's election He announced his plan Applying a 25% customs duty on goods coming from Canada.
This move will have a significant impact on the Canadian economy, and may lead to retaliatory tariffs.
“Canadians are very proud to be Canadian, but people are now talking about that instead of the impact of the 25 per cent tariffs,” Trudeau said. “No American wants to pay 25 percent more for electricity or oil and gas coming from Canada.”
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media that she met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence over the weekend to discuss the importance of energy partnerships between the United States and Canada. Alberta is a major exporter of oil and gas.
