The United States has long had a strong relationship with Canada that extends to professional sports. Several major sports leagues in the United States feature Canadian teams, with the NBA and MLB each having a single franchise, while the NHL and MLS include several based in Canada. But rhetoric, plans and threats from Donald Trump could radically change the relationship between the two countries.
Donald Trump has remained insistent that he wants to add Canada to the United States as the 51st state in the union. And during a recent speech, he went as far as to threaten Canada economically if it didn’t happen.
Earlier this week, Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s conservative party, claimed that Canada would never become the 51st state in the United States. But Trump did not seem
“I don’t care what he says,” Trump said during an interview.
Trump was asked whether or not he intended to use military force to convince Canada to join the United States. While Trump said that he did not plan to use the military, he did issue a pretty clear threat to Canada as he said that the United States will use “economic force” to convince Canada to join the United States.
“Economic force,” Trump said. “Because 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 better for national security. Don’t forget, we basically protect Canada,” Trump said.
“Here’s the problem with Canada,” Trump continued. “So many friends up there, I love the Canadian people, they’re great. But we’re spending hundreds of billions a year to protect it, we’re spending hundreds of billions a year to take care of Canada. In trade deficits, we’re losing massively.”
Trump went on to explain that the United States does not need Canada as a trade partner anywhere near as much as Canada needs the United States.
“We don’t need their cars. You know, they make 20 percent of our cars. We don’t need that – I’d rather make them in Detroit. We don’t need their cars. We don’t need their lumber. We have massive fields of lumber. We don’t need their lumber,” Trump said.
“We don’t need anything they have,” Trump said. “We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada?”
Of course, the odds are extremely slim that Canada actually would join the United States, but this sort of rhetoric and this threatening stance from Trump could severely impact the relationship between the two allies going forward.
