Earlier this week, following his call for 15 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Donald Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During their meeting, the president-elect reportedly mused about making Canada into America’s 51st state.
Most reports about the meeting indicated that Trump was joking and that there are not currently active plans for an American conquest of our neighbors to the north in Trump’s second term. However, after the meeting, Trump made a Truth Social post that referenced the reports, showing a likely digitally altered image of the president-elect standing on a mountain in front of a giant Canadian flag. The caption was “Oh Canada!”
Per HuffPost, various social media users roasted Trump, in part because the mountain in the picture resembled the Matterhorn, which is in Switzerland and not Canada, while others claimed it was a mountain in British Columbia. One Bluesky user called the photo “spectacularly dumb.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
The whole kerfuffle, which started over tariffs, resembles the controversy in Trump’s first term in which he mused about purchasing Greenland from Denmark. Denmark made clear that they were not interested in such a real estate deal, and nothing ever came of that, although the Trump Administration ended up giving Greenland a $12 million aid package in 2020.
But with Trump returning to office, the Greenland idea has apparently been revived. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), a Trump loyalist, shared an electoral map, including Greenland as a U.S. state, and a red state at that. The caption? “Project 2029.”
Project 2029 pic.twitter.com/H6QkmYAdj8
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) November 7, 2024
Collins’ message, notably, does not depict Canada as part of the United States.
However, as pointed out by Newsweek, in the highly unlikely event that the United States got control of Greenland and it became a state, that state would be unlikely to vote solidly Republican- and might not even support remaining part of the United States.
“In the 2021 Greenland election, 22 of the 31 parliament seats were won by left-wing parties. The largest party in the current parliament is Inuit Ataqatigiit, which has 12 seats. It is a left wing democratic socialist party which aims to make Greenland an independent state.
Another American politican weighed in on Trump’s Canada plans: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who suggested on X that a U.S. takeover of Canada could lead to single-payer health care:
Trump has suggested that Canada become the 51st state in our union.
Does that mean that we can adopt the Canadian health care system and guarantee health care to all, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and spend 50% less per capita on health care?
I’m all for it. https://t.co/Nwkk7lykXd
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 3, 2024
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune.
