Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke about the possibility of annexing Canada during a recent meeting in Florida, but the topic was quickly dropped after the prime minister pushed back at the request of two provinces. .
In an interview with Jen Psaki on MSNBC’s Inside that will air soon, Trudeau said that despite the president-elect’s expressed desire to meet Trump last year at his Mar-a-Lago mansion, he was “happy to reunite.” ” Even if it were legitimate, it would make Canada the 51st province.
“(annexation) actually came up at some point and then we started thinking about this back and forth,” Trudeau told Psaki. “So I started suggesting, “Maybe we could swap some parts to Vermont or California,” and he quickly decided that wasn’t interesting anymore and moved on to another conversation.
“I mean, it’s not out of the blue for him to do something like this, but my focus has to be on what might happen rather than the never-happening thing he’s talking about. .”
In the interview, Prime Minister Trudeau maintained Canada’s commitment to securing the border to prevent illegal immigration and the movement of fentanyl into the United States. President Trump has proposed imposing a 25% tariff on goods entering the United States from Canada to encourage Canadian action on these issues.
Prime Minister Trudeau said not only would the tariffs increase the price of almost everything for Americans, but Canada would take a “robust response.”
“We are prepared to respond with tariffs if necessary. You may remember when Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, it meant that the price of steel and aluminum for U.S. consumers We responded by putting tariffs on things like bourbon, Harley-Davidsons, orange juice, Trump, these kinds of things because Canadians can find alternatives. You don’t have to pay any extra fees.
“And that ended up resulting in huge losses for U.S. companies, of which Canada is the largest exporter. The U.S. is the largest export partner for about 35 different U.S. states. And the border between the U.S. Anything that thickens the United States will ultimately come at a cost to the American people and people.”America’s job is not what President Trump chose to do. ”
The full interview will be broadcast on MSNBC on Sunday, January 12th at noon ET.
