Justin Trudeau Suggested Trade With Trump: Canada for One of These States

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed on Sunday that he jokingly offered President-elect Donald Trump to trade Vermont or California in order for Canada to become the 51st state.

Newsweek reached out to Trudeau’s office and Trump’s transition team for comment by email on Sunday afternoon.

Why It Matters

Trump has set his sights on a number of foreign targets that he said the United States should acquire to enrich itself: Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark; the Panama Canal; and Canada, which he said would be the 51st state of America.

Canadian leaders have been dismissive of the idea, but that hasn’t stopped Trump insisting upon the idea, citing the argument that the U.S. subsidizes Canada “to the tune of $100,000,000 a year,” which he insisted “makes no sense” and that “many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st state.”

“They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!” he wrote in a Truth Social post in December.

What To Know

Trudeau addressed the issue during an appearance on MSNBC‘s Inside with Jen Psaki, telling former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that he recently had a wide-ranging conversation with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November.

“It actually sort of came up at one point, and then we started musing back-and-forth about this,” Trudeau said. “When I started to suggest, well, maybe there could be a trade for Vermont or California for certain parts, he immediately decided that it was not that funny anymore, and we moved on to a different conversation.”

Trudeau also said his conversation with the president-elect also covered concerns over illegal immigration and fentanyl which runs through Canada and Mexico before reaching the U.S. and is one of the main reasons Trump has suggested applying a tariff of 25 percent to both countries.

“This isn’t out of the blue that he’s doing this, but my focus has to be not on something that he’s talking about that will not ever happen, but more on something that might well happen. If he does choose to go forward with tariffs that raise the cost of just about everything for American citizens, then on top of that, we’re going to have to have a robust response to that,” the outgoing prime minister said.

Trump’s supporters often argue that the president-elect only makes these kinds of threats as a means of forcing parties to the negotiating table and making clear his goals.

Trudeau noted that these issues are not major concerns from the Canadian side, in that the country is responsible for “less than 1 percent” of either fentanyl or illegal immigration into the U.S.

Trudeau also told Psaki: “We’ve actually responded to his request for us to do more with billions of dollars-worth of investments to even further strengthen the security at our borders, to make sure we’re reducing the flow of illicit drugs back and forth across our border to get a better handle on the migration issues that are real at the northern border, but nowhere near the level of concern that Americans have further south.”

He added: “There’s lots of things we can do, and we’ve already responded to some of the concerns that he has, and we’re going to continue doing that, because it’s in both of our interests to do well together.”

Psaki: I’m assuming he didn’t bring up his intention to publicly say he was going to annex through economic means Canada

Trudeau: When I started to suggest there could be a trade for Vermont or California, he immediately decided that it was not not that funny anymore. pic.twitter.com/ezGrOhWECU

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 12, 2025

What People Are Saying

Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party and favorite to replace Trudeau as prime minister, last week wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Canada will never be the 51st state. Period. We are a great and independent country. We are the best friend to the U.S. We spent billions of dollars and hundreds of lives helping Americans retaliate against Al-Qaeda‘s 9/11 attacks. We supply the U.S. with billions of dollars of high-quality and totally reliable energy well below market prices. We buy hundreds of billions of dollars of American goods.”

What Happens Next

Canada will have to wait for Trump to take office on January 20 to see what kind of policies he will pursue against the country, be it the high tariff or simply to open up discussions on the president-elect’s concerns.

At the same time, Trudeau has said he will step down as prime minister, with a general election looming in Canada, which will take place on or before October 20, 2025. Canadian parliament is in recess while Trudeau’s Liberal Party seeks a new leader to replace Trudeau and head up the election effort.