Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that he jokingly suggested trading Vermont or California to President-elect Donald Trump in response to Trump’s interest in annexing Canada.
Trudeau shared this exchange during an MSNBC interview, recalling his visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November. Trudeau said, “It actually sort of came up at one point, and then we started musing back and forth about this… And when I started to suggest, ‘Well, maybe there could be a trade for Vermont or California for certain parts,’ he immediately decided that it was not that funny anymore, and we moved on to a different conversation.”
Trudeau has consistently rejected Trump’s idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, stating on X, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”
There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.
Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 7, 2025
Trudeau emphasised that Canadians take pride in their national identity, saying, “One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we’re not American”, he told CNN.
The meeting between Trudeau and Trump came after Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods. Trump described the meeting as “very productive,” discussing immigration and the trade deficit between the US and Canada. Trudeau, however, expressed concerns about Trump’s tariff plan, stating that Canada is prepared to deliver a “robust response” if necessary.
Trudeau told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, “My focus has to be not on something that he’s talking about that will not ever happen but more on something that might well happen… we’re going to have to have a robust response to that.”
Trump has proposed imposing blanket 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing the ongoing fentanyl crisis. This plan would be among his first executive orders in his second term. In response, Trudeau announced his resignation as the head of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, partly due to criticism over his handling of Trump’s threats. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland had previously resigned, expressing concerns over Trudeau’s approach to the incoming tariff threat.
However, Trudeau has said Trump’s talk of annexing Canada is just a tactic that he is deploying to distract people from the impact of his proposed tariffs. “What I think is happening in this is President Trump, who is a very skilful negotiator, is getting people to be somewhat distracted by that conversation,” Trudeau told CNN.
