Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday responded to President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about annexing his nation, saying: “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”
Trudeau’s statement on X comes a day after the prime minister announced that he would be resigning from office when a new Liberal party leader is chosen.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada, with the latest instance coming Tuesday, when he said that he wanted to acquire the U.S.’s northern neighbor with “economic force.”
“Canada and the United States ‒ that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said.
In his post, Trudeau said that both countries benefit from being each other’s security partner.
Other Canadian leaders push back
Leaders from across the Canadian political spectrum renounced Trump’s comments Tuesday.
“Canada will never be the 51st state. Period,” Pierre Poilivere, the Conservative Party leader who is likely to become Prime Minister after Canada’s October election, said in a post on X. “We are a great and independent country.”
The sentiment was echoed by Liberal Mélanie Joy, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, in a post on X Tuesday.
“President-elect Trump’s comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country,” Joy said. “Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats.”
