Ontario’s premier made the suggestion after Donald Trump’s claim that Canadians would be better off under Washington’s rule
Canada could buy the states of Alaska and Minnesota from America, the premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, has suggested in response to US President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a merger between the two countries.
Canada is “the greatest country in the world” and there is no way it will fall under the rule of Washington, Ford told journalists on Monday.
“I will make him [Trump] a counteroffer. How about if we buy Alaska and throw in Minnesota and [its main city]Minneapolis at the same time?” he quipped. “So, you know, it is not realistic,” the premier added.
Ford said he was aware that the US president-elect “likes making these comments, and he likes joking around” by coming up with proposals like the one about the US annexing Canada.
“I take that seriously. He may be joking, but under my watch that will never, ever happen,” he insisted.
Since winning the presidential election in November, Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and claimed that most Canadians would “love” to become part of the US.
On Tuesday, the president-elect suggested that the US could use “economic force” to absorb its northern neighbor, whose goods he threatened to hit with 25% tariffs. “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,” he said.
On the same day, Trump posted maps on his Truth Social platform of how the US and Canada would look as a single state.
In a separate interview with CNN on Monday, Ford said Washington and Ottawa were “strongest allies,” who needed to resolve their trade issues through talks.
“We [Canada] ship down 4.3 million barrels of oil every single day. We send electricity down to the U.S., critical minerals. These are all areas and different sectors that Americans need and why disrupt that,” he stressed.
READ MORE: ‘No way in hell’ Trump will get Canada – Trudeau
Canada’s outgoing prime minister, Justin Trudeau, wrote on X on Tuesday that “there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the US.” Trudeau also argued that people in both countries benefit “from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.”
