In a lengthy interview published on Friday, President Donald Trump confirmed that he was not "trolling" when he touted that he could work to make Canada the 51st state.
Trump made the remark in his interview with Time Magazine on his first 100 days in office. The entire transcript was released.
When Time Magazine suggested that Trump was "trolling" when he said that the United States should regain control of the Panama Canal and absorb Canada and Greenland, Trump retorted, "Actually, no I'm not." (via TIME):
You've talked about acquiring Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state. Maybe you're trolling a little bit on that one. I don't know.
Actually, no, I’m not.
Well, do you want to grow the American empire?
Well, it depends as an empire, it wasn't, these are not things that we had before, so I'd view it a little bit differently if we had the right opportunity. Yeah, I think Greenland would be very well off if they I think it's important for us for national security and even international security. I think Canada, what you said that, “Well, that one, I might be trolling.” But I'm really not trolling. Canada is an interesting case. We lose $200 to $250 billion a year supporting Canada. And I asked a man who I called Governor Trudeau. I said, ”Why? Why do you think we're losing so much money supporting you? Do you think that's right? Do you think that's appropriate for another country to make it possible, for a country to sustain and he was unable to give me an answer, but it costs us over $200 billion a year to take care of Canada?” We’re taking care of their military. We're taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don't need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don't want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don't need their lumber. We don't need their energy. We don't need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.
Steven Cheung: We’re coming up on time, about 10 minutes.
Okay, we'll move quickly then. Last note: Do you want to be remembered as a president who expanded American territory?
Wouldn’t mind.
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Previously, Townhall covered how President-elect Donald Trump mocked former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by calling him the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada” after the two leaders met at Mar-a-Lago.
“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. 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 wrote on Truth Social.
This came after reports broke that Trump told Trudeau that if he has an issue with the tariffs that he plans to impose, Canada could join the United States.
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