Canada expresses outrage over Trump's '51st state jibe': Not a joke anymore

Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has strongly rebuked US President Donald Trump's latest comments about making Canada the 51st state, calling his remarks "very serious" and not a joke. Joly, in an interview with the BBC, expressed the deep frustration and anger felt by many Canadians, particularly after Trump doubled down on his claim that Canada would be better off as part of the United States.

"This is not a joke anymore. There's a reason why Canadians, when they go out to a hockey game, are booing the American national anthem," Joly said. "We're insulted. We're mad. We're angry."

Trump's renewed assertion about Canada's status came after a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during which he referred to him as "Governor Justin" in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump accused Trudeau of failing to curb the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigration across the US-Canada border, suggesting that weak policies from Ottawa were to blame for worsening relations between the two countries.

"For anyone who is interested, I also told Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada that he largely caused the problems we have with them because of his weak border policies, which allowed tremendous amounts of fentanyl and illegal aliens to pour into the United States," Trump wrote.

Trump claimed that Trudeau had reached out to him seeking solutions to the ongoing trade war, which began after the US imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, citing national security concerns and the alleged fentanyl crisis. The Canadian government retaliated with its own 25 per cent tariffs on USD 30 billion worth of US exports, escalating tensions between the two close trading partners.

The US President insisted that Canada had not done enough to address the issue, dismissing Trudeau's reassurances that the situation had improved. "He said that it's gotten better, but I said, 'That's not good enough,'" Trump wrote. "The call ended in a 'somewhat' friendly manner!"

Joly, however, dismissed Trump's justification for the tariffs as a "bogus excuse", arguing that Canada had already implemented strict border security measures to address US concerns. She warned that the tariffs posed an "existential threat" to Canada's economy and called on allies like the UK and the European Union to prepare countermeasures in case Trump expanded his trade war.

"We need to make sure that we fight back," Joly said, emphasising that the Canadian backlash against the US was not directed at its citizens but at Trump's policies. "We're the best friends of the American people," she added.

Trump, who has long toyed with the idea of annexing Canada, has previously floated the notion of Trudeau serving as a "governor" under American rule.

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