US President Donald Trump has returned to rhetoric about turning Canada into the 51st US state, using the topic as a tool of political and economic pressure in trade disputes. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
"They will ultimately become the 51st state, because that's the only way it will work. We don't need them, but they need us," Trump said.
He also questioned why the US spends between $80 billion and $100 billion annually to support a country that is not part of the United States, and compared the situation to Greenland.
Canadian authorities — both Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney — have consistently and categorically rejected such statements, perceiving them as a direct threat to the country's sovereignty.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America."
When asked by journalists what signal he wanted to send to Canada by renaming the lake, Trump replied: "None."