U.S. President-elect Donald Trump mocked Justin Trudeau in an overnight post on social media, calling the prime minister the “Governor” of the “Great State of Canada.”
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“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account just after midnight Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all!”
The post comes after Trump suggested that if imposing a 25% tariff didn’t help address the trade and immigration issues he brought up with Trudeau during a meeting with the prime minister at his Mar-a-Lago resort in late November, then Canada should become the 51st state, sources told Fox News.
Trudeau replied that Trump cannot impose a 25% tariff on all goods flowing into the U.S. because it would kill the Canadian economy. That’s when Trump joked that Canada should become the 51st state.
Once word leaked out of Trump’s comment, the president-elect shared an image to Truth Social of him atop a mountain with the Canadian flag and captioned it, “Oh Canada!”
On Monday, Trudeau commented on challenges of a potential tariff while speaking to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
“Let’s not kid ourselves in any way, shape or form: 25% tariffs on everything going to the United States would be devastating for the Canadian economy,” Trudeau said.
He added that Canada will “respond to unfair tariffs in a number of ways, and we’re still looking at the right ways to respond, but our responses to the unfair steel and aluminum tariffs were what ended up lifting those tariffs last time.”
Over the weekend, Trump sat down for an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” and explained why he would impose the levy on goods coming from Canada and Mexico.
“We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune over $100 billion a year,” he said in the interview which aired on Sunday. “We’re subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion. We shouldn’t be — why are we subsidizing these countries? If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state.”