(AFP) – US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday mocked Canada’s Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of a state, rather than prime minister of the giant US neighbor. “It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” posted Trump on his Truth Social platform shortly after midnight. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all!”
Trump’s jibe follows reports that he suggested making Canada the 51st US state during discussions with Trudeau in Florida, which followed threats to impose huge trade tariffs when he takes office in January. The report from Fox News said Trump told Trudeau that if Canada could not withstand his threatened 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports, then it should be absorbed into the United States.
Asked about Trump’s post, Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller said, “it sounds like we’re living in an episode of South Park.” The comment to journalists in Ottawa was a possible reference to a plotline in the satirical 1999 South Park movie, when the US and Canada go to war, with American characters rallying around a song entitled “Blame Canada.”
Canadian Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was also asked by a reporter if she thought Trump seriously wanted Canada to become part of the US. “That is a question, really, for the president-elect,” she said.
Trump has a habit of provocative statements, especially on social media, that can be read as jokes or bluster. During his first term, Trump repeatedly discussed buying Greenland from Denmark. “Why are we subsidizing these countries?” Trump said in a televised interview that aired Sunday, referring to Mexico and Canada. “If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state,” he told NBC.
Publicly, Trump and Trudeau said their meeting at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate went well. Trump accuses top US trading partners Canada and Mexico of not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal migrants and drug trafficking. He has threatened tariffs against both neighbors, despite them being part of a trilateral free-trade agreement with the United States.
After the Florida dinner, Trump said it was “a very productive meeting,” while Trudeau said he had an “excellent conversation.” In a speech Monday to the chamber of commerce in the eastern Canadian city Halifax, Trudeau said Canada would “respond to unfair tariffs,” as Ottawa did during Trump’s first term when Washington slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
“We’re still looking at the right ways to respond,” Trudeau told the audience. The premier acknowledged that Trump’s proposed tariffs would be “devastating” for Canada and the risks should be taken seriously, while also urging calm. “One of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic,” Trudeau said.
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