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Donald Trump says Justin Trudeau is stepping down because he was scared about the U.S. president-elect’s proposed tariffs.
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After Trudeau announced Monday that he is stepping down as prime minister, the incoming president wasted no time in taking credit for playing a part in the Liberal leader’s decision.
“Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State,” Trump shared in a post to his Truth Social platform.
The remark followed a statement that Trump made to Trudeau in November after the two spoke following his reelection.
Trudeau flew unannounced to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., after the incoming president threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian products being imported to the United States.
Trump said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
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After the two sat down for a hastily arranged dinner in late November in Florida, Trudeau said they “shared a productive wide-ranging discussion.” The day afterwards, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that they discussed “many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address.”
In the days following the dinner, news trickled out that seemed to indicate that the meeting might not have been as smooth as Trudeau was making it seem.
Paraphrasing their discussion over dinner from conversations he had with two people at the table, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy said that when Trudeau informed Trump that tariffs would “kill the Canadian economy,” Trump joked that “if the Canadian economy can’t survive without ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion a year then maybe Canada should become the 51st state.”
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Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that Trump’s comments were a joke and nothing more.
In his year-end interview with comedian Mark Critch, Trudeau maintained that Trump’s remarks were an “offhand, jocular moment” and said he didn’t think the incoming president was being serious.
But in his message Monday, Trump said “the United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat.”
“Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” he continued.
Trump also reiterated one of his recent talking points that if Canada merges with the U.S., Canadians would enjoy a better standard of life.
“There would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!
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Since his reelection, Trump has repeatedly teased Trudeau referring to him as a “governor” and boasting that Canadians would enjoy a tax cut of more than 60% if the country became a U.S. state.
In December, Trump went viral after he shared an AI-generated photo of himself standing beside a Canadian flag on a mountaintop along with the caption, “Oh Canada!”
On Instagram, the post generated over 376,000 likes in its first two hours, with many of Trump’s 29 million followers begging him to “invade Canada.”
“We need you, Donald,” one person pleaded. “Please save my country!!!”
“Please buy Canada,” another asked.
In a Christmas Day message to his followers on Truth Social, Trump suggested Wayne Gretzky, “‘The Great One’ as he is known in ice-hockey circles … run for prime minister of Canada.”
mdaniell@postmedia.com
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