“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.” This was the outgoing prime minister of Canada’s social media response to President-elect Trump’s Tuesday remarks at his Mar-a-Lago news conference, in which he discussed the possibility of acquiring Canada as the 51st state using “economic force.”
The premier of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, has been the most vocal opponent of Trump’s proposal to annex the country and impose 25% tariffs on Canadian exports. Trudeau, who is currently leading the Liberal Party, announced on Monday that he will step down as prime minister once his successor is chosen.
In an interview with HeadlinesForever Digital, Doug Ford—the 26th premier of Ontario and a former businessman and conservative like Trump—called the president-elect’s plans to attack Canada “crazy” and “ridiculous.”
“Make the U.S. and Canada the richest and most prosperous jurisdiction in the world.” He proclaimed as the goal of the bilateral effort the “strengthening” of the roughly trillion-dollar two-way trading relationship that the Canadian government describes.
Ford scolded Trump during a press conference in Toronto on Monday, the day after Trudeau announced his departure, by presenting a “counteroffer” to his proposal of Canada as a 51st state.
The prime minister made the following statement before Ontario’s legislature: “How about if we buy Alaska and throw in Minnesota?”
In a lighthearted interview with HeadlinesForever Digital, Ford joked that after making those comments, he received feedback from Canadians suggesting he should have gone with “somewhere warmer, like Florida or California.”
“California never votes for him anyway,” said the politician.
During his Monday press conference, the premier of Ontario made it clear that annexing Canada “will never, ever happen” while he was in office.
The prospect of tariffs by Trump is being taken seriously by Ford as well.
He led the Progressive Conservatives to air a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign last month in the United States, praising Ontario as a potential “ally” in the creation of “more workers, more trade, more prosperity, more security.”
“You can rely on Ontario for energy to power your growing economy, and for the critical minerals crucial to new technologies,” according to the ad.
Trump intends to impose a 25% tax on Canada on his first day in office, January 20, according to Ford, and this will have a negative impact on millions of jobs in both countries.
“Nine million Americans produce products for Ontario alone every single day,” according to him. “The problem is China shipping goods into Mexico and Mexico slapping a made-in-Mexico sticker.”
Ford, who was involved in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement during the first Trump administration but now wants Canada to have separate deals with the U.S. and Mexico, says that Ontario is prepared to take retaliatory actions “that will really send a message to the U.S.” in reaction to the imposition of U.S. tariffs.
He extended his condolences, saying, “It’s unfortunate because retaliation is not good for either country.” He went on to say that 17 states receive the most exports from Ontario, and 11 more take second place.
“The last thing I want to do is hurt those people,” he added. I aim to increase employment opportunities in both the United States and Canada. And one way to do this is to impose tariffs on countries like China.
According to him, “someone in Texas who purchased a GM pickup truck made in Oshawa, [Ontario] might have paid between $50,000 and $60,000,” and with a tariff, “would be paying 70 some-odd thousand.”
“It simply does not make any sense whatsoever,” Ford added.
He has spoken with senators and governors in an effort to arrange a meeting between himself and Trump, who he would want to see in person. Additionally, Ford would like to meet with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who was nominated by Trump to co-lead the new “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The third-largest trading partner of the United States, with an estimated US$344 billion in 2023, “split equally down the center,” is Ontario, according to Ford, and Trump “doesn’t realize” this.
The premier of Ontario has stated his desire to increase the export of energy and vital minerals to the United States, claiming that the latter “needs us like we need them.”
Meeting Trump and his daughter Ivanka in 2012 while in town to launch the old Trump International Hotel and Tower, now unconnected with The Trump Organization and called The St. Regis Toronto, the premier and his late brother Rob, who was mayor of Toronto at the time, crossed paths with Trump and his entourage.
Before becoming a city councilor in 2010, Ford was the CEO of Deco Labels & Flexible Packaging, a family business in Toronto. Ford describes Trump as “a shrewd operator” and “a smart businessperson.”
The premier stated that the new president is familiar with Ontario.
According to Ford, who established a Deco branch in Chicago in 1999, “Not one senator, not one governor, not one congressperson or businessperson has said that Canada is a problem.”
According to him, Trump is not planning to go after other American friends like France or the UK, but rather “wants to target” America’s “closest friend,” Canada.
Ontario’s premier expressed his desire for a more constructive dialogue with Trudeau, saying, “I’m not too sure if it’s personal against Trudeau, but Trudeau is on his way out, so hopefully we’ll have a better conversation.” He went on to say that he would someday consider running for federal office.
On Monday, Trump made a post on Truth Social stating, “the United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat.”
“Justin Trudeau knows this, and resigned,” stated the 47th president of the United States.
Next Wednesday, Trudeau will meet with Ford and the premiers of the other nine provinces and three territories in Ottawa to discuss the Trump tariff problem. However, Trudeau remains prime minister.
Even though the next Liberal leader is expected to be chosen sometime in the next two months, Trudeau should not think “he’s off the hook” because the Canadian premiers “will hold him to the fire” in making sure Canada is prepared to respond to the impending punitive trade measure from the Trump administration, as Ford put it.
A statement released last month stated that he has made avoiding U.S. tariffs “a priority” and that the Council of the Federation, a meeting of Canada’s premiers, has maintained Canada-U.S. ties at the forefront.
Every day, products and services worth more than C$3.5 billion [approximately US$2.4 billion] cross the border between Canada and the United States, making them one of the world’s largest integrated marketplaces. When compared with China, Japan, and Germany all together, the United States’ sales to Canada are far higher.
In an effort to allay Trump’s fears about the safety of the country’s borders, the government of Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday the commencement of “Operation Deterrence,” a program to combat the illegal crossing of borders, the importation of narcotics and firearms (of which 90% originate in the United States), and other related issues.
His government is working with the DEA in the US to determine where the components for fentanyl came from, he added, adding that it might have been “China, Mexico, or the U.S.”