Trump joke on Canada becoming U.S. 51st state was ‘silly talk’: ministers

Several cabinet ministers on Tuesday downplayed Donald Trump's reported remarks to Justin Trudeau suggesting that Canada should become a 51st state in the face of tariffs.

U.S president-elect Donald Trump’s reported joke during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada should become a 51st American state in the face of tariffs was “in no way a serious comment,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said.

In a surprise visit, Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday, where he met and had dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property. The meeting came just days after Trump threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian products coming into the United States.

Details of their discussion remain scarce, but Trump said it was a “very productive meeting” and Trudeau called it an “excellent conversation.”

On Monday, Fox News, citing anonymous sources, reported that Trump suggested to Trudeau that if the tariffs would kill the Canadian economy then maybe it should become the 51st state.

LeBlanc, who was also at the dinner, was asked about those reports on Tuesday.

“We were in a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving,” he told reporters before a cabinet meeting in Ottawa.

“The conversation was going to be lighthearted. The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue in no way a serious comment.

“We had a discussion on trade issues, on border security that was very productive, but the fact that there’s a warm, cordial relationship between the two leaders and the president is able to joke like that for us it was a positive thing.”