The Ontario Premier said he is going to “ignore Trump” after the U.S. president revived his 51st state rhetoric during a meeting with top U.S. military generals in Virginia this week.
“President Trump is back at it again,” Doug Ford said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday in a video shared by
and
. The premier’s comments came after his
meeting with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
in Toronto.
As Ford talked about strengthening relationships after meeting Whitmer, he spoke about Trump’s 51st state rhetoric: “This guy is too much. He’s back on his 51st state again… I am going to ignore him.” The “51st state” refers to the idea Trump administration has repeatedly floated about adding Canada to the U.S., currently a 50-state country.
Ford said he is instead going to start focussing on working with the federal government on what Canada can do in terms of lowering taxes and creating an environment for companies to invest in Ontario.
Ford added, “I disagree with anything that guys says. He drives me crazy. I’ll talk about him. But let’s stop worrying about this guy and start worrying about what we can do as a country.”
as he talked about the Golden Dome missile, a multilayered missile defence program to tackle threats to the U.S., during his address in Virginia and how “Canada” had recently contacted him wanting to be a part of it. The U.S. president first suggested Canada join the defence program in December.
“To which I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just join our country? You become the 51st state and you get it for free,’” Trump said during his speech. “I don’t know if that made a big impact, but it does make a lot of sense, because they’re having a hard time up there in Canada now because, as you know, with tariffs, everyone’s coming into our country,” he added.
Trump’s 51st state comment in Virginia came a few days after U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra’s tense exchange at a forum in Banff, Alberta. Hoekstra was asked by forum’s moderator and former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson if he sympathized with Canadians upset at Trump’s repeated annexation rhetoric.
“My direction from the president is very, very clear: prosperity, safety and security. And for those Canadians who want to talk about growing business opportunities, securing and their borders and those types of things…the embassy is open to do business with you,” Hoekstra responded.
“If you wanted talk about the 51st state, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to do that.”
Hokestra also said he is offended by Canadians who call the U.S. president “uninformed.”
He said, “You may not like some of the things that he says or whatever, but again, to describe the president as being uninformed…you don’t hear Americans talk about our disagreements with Canadian politicians, saying they’re just uninformed.”
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