President-elect of the United States Donald Trump On Tuesday, he said he planned to use “economic force” to merge Canada with the United States, arguing that “we don’t need anything from them” for trade and reiterating his desire that Canada becomes an American state.
Trump, in a major news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida less than two weeks before taking office, also said he wanted NATO Members must spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense, more than double the current target of two percent.
His comments were the latest in recent threats against longtime US allies, renewing questions and concerns about plans to use trade as a cudgel, and went beyond similar comments that he made about the integration of Canada into the United States.
Trump told reporters he would not rule out using military action to regain control of the Panama Canal and acquire Danish-controlled Greenland, which he said the United States needs for economic and security.
He was asked if he was considering the same thing to “annex and acquire Canada,” to which Trump responded. it has been repeatedly said that it should become the 51st US stateTrump replied: “No, economic strength.”
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something,” he said. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you look at what it looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.” »
Trump has repeatedly said the United States “subsidizes” Canada to the tune of US$200 billion in trade and spends billions more on continental defense programs like NORAD than Canada, which he says , “doesn’t essentially have an army.”
“We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their wood,” he continued. “We don’t need anything they have. We don’t need their dairy products.
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“We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada?
Canada and the United States are each other’s largest trading partners, with more than $3.6 billion in goods and services crossing the border daily. The Office of the US Trade Representative says the US trade deficit with Canada – which is different from a subsidy – was US$53.5 billion in 2022.
Trump first raised the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state when he hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian officials at Mar-a-Lago in November, shortly after Trump threatened to Impose 25 percent tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico.
Even if the Canadians said at the time that Trump was jokingThe US president-elect repeated this comment several times on social media and called Trudeau a “governor”.
Trump said Tuesday that because of all the money the United States spends on Canada, “they should be a state.”
“We do it out of habit, and we do it because we love our neighbors and we’ve been good neighbors, but we can’t do it forever,” he said.
Trump has suggested he plans to follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on Canada, even though he initially linked it to increased border security requirements, something Ottawa has sought to answer.
He said the tariffs will “offset” the “record numbers” of migrants and drugs entering the United States from Canada and Mexico.
“We want to get along with everyone, but you know, it takes two to tango,” he said.
Trump’s comments on Canada came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Trudeau, who announced Monday that he would resign after a new Liberal leader has been chosen, for example strengthen the relationship between the United States and Canada as Prime Minister.
NATO members should spend 5%, Trump says
Trump also said he wants NATO members to spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense. The military alliance has set a spending target of 2 percent, which Canada is currently not meeting.
“If you want to have a country and a regular army, you’re at 4 percent,” Trump said. The United States currently spends 3.38 percent on its defense.
“They can all afford it, but they should settle for five percent, not two percent. »
Canada, which currently spends 1.37 percent of its GDP on defense, currently plans to reach 1.76 percent by 2030. The government says it is on a “clear path” to reach 2 percent by 2032, even though the Parliamentary Budget Officer has expressed doubts about the spending plan.
NATO allies, including the United States under the Biden administration and during Trump’s first term, have criticized Canada for years for failing to meet the 2% target.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that NATO’s spending target should be raised to 3% given the increased threat posed by Russia and other foreign adversaries.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his oft-told story of refusing to agree to come to the aid of NATO members who fail to meet the spending target if they were attacked, but said it was that threat that leads more members to increase their defense spending.
“I received a lot of heat from the media (for making this threat),” Trump said. “And you know what happened?” The money started flowing in. This is why NATO has money.”
US President Joe Biden welcomed the fact that 23 members have now reached the goal, up from just six in 2021, leading efforts to rally Western allies around support for Ukraine following the invasion of Russia in 2022.
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