Trump Jokes About Canada Becoming 51st US State

Former US President Donald Trump made a surprising joke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He suggested Canada could become the 51st state of the United States. This happened during a meeting at Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, on November 29.

The meeting was about trade issues. Trump had threatened to put a 25% tax on goods from Canada and Mexico. He said he would do this if these countries didn't stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling. This tax could have cost Canada billions of dollars.

Trudeau flew to Florida quickly after hearing about Trump's plan. He told Trump that the tax would badly hurt Canada's economy. Canada sells about $300 billion worth of goods to the US each year. The tax could have reduced this by $75 billion.

Trump then asked if Canada couldn't survive without taking $100 billion from the US. This was about the trade deficit between the two countries. The US buys more from Canada than Canada buys from the US. In 2016, this difference was about $11 billion.

After this, Trump joked that Canada could become the 51st US state. He even suggested Trudeau could be its governor. Trudeau reportedly laughed nervously at this idea. The US currently has 50 states, and adding a new one would be a big change.