Canada: Trudeau says Trump “serious” about making it America’s 51st state
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: He is heading a fragile minority government and stares at the grim prospects for his Liberal Party in the parliamentary elections by October 2025. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with less than 10 percent popularity ratings, is still trying to avert this inevitability, and somehow, return to power.
By raking up “nationalist” sentiments—given US President Donald Trump’s threat to absorb Canada.
On Friday, Trudeau said that Trump is “serious” about absorbing Canada as the 51st state of the USA, the media reported.
Trump’s recent fixation on absorbing Canada is “a real thing,” Trudeau told business leaders in a meeting, warning that the US President wants access to his northern neighbor’s vast deposits of critical minerals.
The outgoing Canadian PM was in Toronto for a hastily called summit of business and labor leaders, seeking to coordinate a response to Trump’s looming threat of a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports.
Earlier this week, however, Trump gave Canada a 30-day reprieve and postponed the tariff imposition from February 1, hoping to negotiate the trade terms afresh. The American tariffs would have devastated Canada’s economy.
But the US President has also continued to mock Canadian sovereignty, repeatedly describing it as the “51st state” of America on social media and calling Trudeau “governor” instead of the Prime Minister.
Friday’s business summit included discussions on stemming the movement of fentanyl, security at the bilateral border, and the challenge of interprovincial trade.
But Trudeau used this opportunity to axe his own grind and told an audience that Trump’s threats of annexation – often viewed as a negotiating tactic – were serious, and should be taken as such.
“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,” Trudeau reportedly told businesspersons, according to the media.
“They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have and they very much want to be able to benefit from those,” he said. “But Mr Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country.”
Canada is rich in minerals considered critical to the green energy transition, including lithium, graphite, nickel, copper and cobalt, and has sought to position itself as a trusted and stable supplier of the commodities to allied nations.
President Trump’s threats since he won a second term to the White House in November 2024, which upended the longstanding relationship between the two neigboring countries, have dramatically reshaped federal politics and ushered in a new era of patriotism. With an election looming this year, all Canadian parties are scrambling to portray themselves as patriotic and ready to defend the country’s sovereignty.
In Quebec, where provincial sovereigntists have experienced a surge in popularity, the number of people calling for a referendum on the province’s secession has dropped. Since December 2024, people in Quebec who said they were “very proud” or “proud” to be Canadian increased 13 points from 45 percent to 58 percent, according to a poll.
On Friday, some federal cabinet ministers close to Trudeau also sought to reassure the people.
“Our American friends understand that they need Canada for their economic security, energy security and national security,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was quoted as saying.
Trade minister Anita Anand said there would be “no messing” with the border.
“Canada is free. Canada is sovereign,” Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon, told reporters. “Canada will choose its own destiny, thank you very much.”
