Trudeau says Trump's comments on 51st state 'flattering' but a 'non-starter'

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media after a meeting with Jay Timmons, president and CEO of The National Association of Manufacturers, in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jose Luis Magana

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says talk of Canada becoming the 51st state is a distraction from more pressing threats of U.S tariffs on Canada and their likely impact.

In an interview that aired Sunday on MSNBC, he said Canada is ready to respond with retaliatory tariffs should president-elect Donald Trump follow through with a threat to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he takes office next week.

Trump has also referred to Canada as the “51st state,” a notion federal cabinet ministers initially played off as a joke but now appear to be taking more seriously.

Appearing on “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Trudeau said Canadians need to take Trump’s expansionist rhetoric seriously, and that there is a certain amount of “flattery” in Trump seeing how great the country is.

“And I know that, as a successful negotiator, (Trump) likes to keep people a little off-balance. The 51st state, that’s not going to happen. It’s just a non-starter. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian,” said Trudeau, who taped the appearance while in the United States to attend Thursday’s funeral for former president Jimmy Carter.

“But people are now talking about that, as opposed to talking about, for example, what the impact (would be) of 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the United States, on energy, whether it’s oil and gas or electricity.”

Trudeau said he was able to negotiate with Trump in a mutually-beneficial Canada-U. S. free trade deal the last time each was in office, despite it being “hard” because of Trump’s negotiation behaviour.

“But we got to a good outcome that was win-win for both of us,” Trudeau told Psaki, a former White House press secretary.

As for Trump calling Trudeau a “governor,” Trudeau said: “I have been in politics an awfully long time. I tend to focus on the substantive things, not on people choosing nicknames for me. I mean, if I was that thin-skinned, I probably wouldn’t last that long in politics.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made her own an appeal to Trump this weekend, posting on social media that she spent time at his Mar-a-Lago residence and met with him and key allies in the incoming administration.

Smith said the pair had a “friendly and constructive” conversation on the importance of the U.S.-Canada energy relationship, and how U.S. jobs are supported by Albertan exports.

In one photo she shared online, Smith is seen standing next to Trump and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary.

“On behalf of Albertans, I will continue to engage in constructive dialogue and diplomacy with the incoming administration and elected federal and state officials from both parties, and will do all I can to further Alberta’s and Canada’s interests,” Smith wrote.

“We need to preserve our independence while we grow this critical partnership for the benefit of Canadians and Americans for generations to come.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Canadians need to “be ready” for economic threats, saying all leaders need to put Canada first and show a united front.

“We have to be very realistic, very pragmatic, and we have to be ready, because something we can’t do is not to take president-elect Trump at his word. Because when he says something, he usually does it,” she said Sunday on CBC’s “Rosemary Barton Live.”

She went on to say Ottawa is pursuing a strategy to engage the incoming U.S. administration through measures that include a new border plan, developing military alliances and co-operating on energy issues.

“And at the same time, we’re working on a retaliation plan,” said Joly.

“I can’t go into the details of that retaliation plan, because I think it would be a bad strategy. But what I can tell you is everything is on the table.”

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien also weighed in on U.S relations over the weekend, spending his 91st birthday telling Trump to “give (his) head a shake.”

In an opinion article published in the Globe and Mail on Saturday, Chrétien said his birthday called for celebration with family and friends, but also a look back at how the country has changed over the years. He made a pitch for Canadian politicians to work together against Trump’s threats.

“I can tell you Canadians prize our independence. We love our country. We have built something here that is the envy of the world — when it comes to compassion, understanding, tolerance and finding a way for people of different backgrounds and faiths to live together in harmony,” wrote Chrétien, who was prime minister from 1993 to 2003.

“We built a nation across the most rugged, challenging geography imaginable. And we did it against the odds. We may look easygoing. Mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press