Kathrine Frich
Canadian officials have repeatedly rejected any talk of becoming part of the United States.
Campaign rallies before major elections are always full of bold promises and fiery speeches.
Politicians love to paint grand visions of the future to fire up their supporters in the crowd.
This week, however, one familiar idea returned to the stage that could redraw the map of North America entirely.
A bold border claim
Speaking to supporters in Arizona ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, US President Donald Trump doubled down on a stunning territorial ambition.
According to TASS, the American leader told the crowd he is confident that Canada will eventually join the United States. It is a message he has pushed many times before.
“They’ll end up being the 51st state because it’s the only way it works,” Trump said at the rally, as reported by TASS. He argued that the relationship between the two neighbors is completely one-sided right now.
Behind the scenes, trade numbers remain a major sticking point for the White House. TASS noted that Trump claimed America loses up to $100 billion every year through its economic and trade ties with its northern neighbor. “You know, we don’t need them, but they need us,” Trump added during his speech, according to the outlet.
Greenland sets the stage
To back up his prediction, the president pointed to a major deal sealed just a few weeks ago. “So they’ll be doing something just like Greenland,” he noted, according to TASS.
That remark referred to an agreement signed in September by Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen that handed control of Greenland’s security over to Washington.
Still, leaders in Ottawa have no interest in following that path. TASS reported that Canadian officials have repeatedly rejected any talk of becoming part of the United States, even as Trump has mocked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney by calling him a governor more than once.
The tension has even forced Ottawa to think about worst-case scenarios. In late September, Carney told The New York Times in an interview that Canadian officials spent the last year preparing for a potential US military invasion, though they viewed an actual attack as unlikely.
