WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump mentioned he’s severe about wanting Canada to turn into the 51st state in an interview that aired Sunday throughout the Tremendous Bowl preshow.
“Yeah it’s,” Trump instructed Fox Information Channel’s Bret Baier when requested whether or not his speak of annexing Canada is “an actual factor” — as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lately recommended.
“I believe Canada can be significantly better off being the 51st state as a result of we lose $200 billion a yr with Canada. And I’m not going to let that occur,” he mentioned. “Why are we paying $200 billion a yr, basically a subsidy to Canada?”
The U.S. will not be subsidizing Canada. The U.S. buys merchandise from the pure resource-rich nation, together with commodities like oil. Whereas the commerce hole in items has ballooned lately to $72 billion in 2023, the deficit largely displays America’s imports of Canadian vitality.
Trump has repeatedly recommended that Canada can be higher off if it agreed to turn into the 51st U.S. state — a prospect that’s deeply unpopular amongst Canadians.
Trudeau mentioned Friday throughout a closed-door session with enterprise and labor leaders that Trump’s speak of constructing Canada the 51st U.S. state is “an actual factor” and is linked to his want for entry to the nation’s pure assets.
“Mr. Trump has it in thoughts that the simplest solution to do it’s absorbing our nation and it’s a actual factor. In my conversations with him on,” Trudeau mentioned, in keeping with CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster. “They’re very conscious of our assets of what we’ve got they usually very a lot need to have the ability to profit from these.”
Within the interview, which was pre-taped this weekend in Florida, Trump additionally mentioned that he has not seen sufficient motion from Canada and Mexico to stave off the tariffs he has threatened to impose on the nation’s two largest buying and selling companions.
“No, it’s not ok,” he mentioned. “One thing has to occur. It’s not sustainable. And I’m altering it.”
Trump final week agreed to a 30-day pause on his plan to slap Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on all imports apart from Canadian oil, pure fuel and electrical energy, which might be taxed at 10%, after the international locations took steps to appease his issues about border safety and drug trafficking.
Whereas touring Sunday on Air Pressure One to the championship recreation in New Orleans, Trump mentioned that he would on Monday announce a 25% tariffs on all metal and aluminum imports into the U.S., together with from Canada and Mexico and a plan for reciprocal tariffs later within the week.
“Very merely it’s in the event that they cost us, we cost them,” he mentioned.
Trump’s participation within the interview marked a return to custom. Presidents have usually granted a sit-down to the community broadcasting the Tremendous Bowl recreation, the most-watched tv occasion of the yr. However each Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have been inconsistent of their participation.
Biden declined to take part final yr and in 2023, when efforts by his crew to have Biden converse with a Fox Corp. streaming service as a substitute of the primary community failed. Throughout his first time period, Trump participated in three out of 4 years.
Trump on Sunday will even turn into the primary sitting president to attend the Tremendous Bowl in individual — one thing he instructed Baier he was shocked to study.
“I assumed it could be a very good factor for the nation to have the president on the recreation,” he mentioned.
Throughout his flight to New Orleans, Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 “the primary ever Gulf of America Day” as Air Pressure One flew over the physique of water that he renamed by proclamation from the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump within the interview, additionally defended the work of billionaire Elon Musk, whose so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE, has been drawing deep concern from Democrats as he strikes to close down entire authorities companies and hearth massive swaths of the federal workforce within the identify of rooting out waste and inefficiency.
Musk, Trump mentioned, has “been terrific,” and can goal the Division of Training and the navy subsequent.
“We’re going to seek out billions, a whole lot of billions of {dollars} of fraud and abuse,” Trump predicted. “I campaigned on this.”
He was additionally requested about his dancing, which has turn into a well-liked meme on social media.
“I do not know what it’s. I try to stroll off generally with out dancing and I can’t. I’ve to bounce as a result of it’s simply that – one thing particular about it,” Trump responded.
___ Related Press author Darlene Superville contributed reporting from Air Pressure One.
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