Trudeau said Canada needs both a tactical response to Trump’s tariff threats in the short term, as well as a strategy for dealing with a less cooperative US in the long term
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that US President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Canada “is a real thing,” media reported. According to a CBC News report, Trudeau told business leaders on February 7 at the Canada-US Economic Summit in Toronto that it would be motivated by the access to Canada’s critical minerals. “Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing,” Trudeau was quoted as saying.
The Prime Minister went on to say that Trump is driven because the US could benefit from Canada’s critical mineral resources, Xinhua news agency reported. Trudeau made the remarks after delivering an opening address to the summit, outlining the key issues facing the country when it comes to Canada’s trading relationship with the US, CTV News reported. He said Canada needs both a tactical response to Trump’s tariff threats in the short term, as well as a strategy for dealing with a less cooperative US in the long term. In an interview with CNN before Trump’s inauguration, Trudeau said that Trump’s comments about turning Canada into the United States’ 51st state are just a distraction from the consequences of Trump’s tariff threats. He added that Canada becoming another US state was “not going to happen”.