Even before U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term, he floated the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state. Since then, his assertion about a union between the two nations — perhaps through the pressure of tariffs — has intensified.
Here's a breakdown of Trump's comments and insinuations on the topic:
In a December 2024 meeting with Canada's then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump suggested that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and called Trudeau the "governor" of the "Great State of Canada," a comment the BBC deemed a "playful jab." Canadian Cabinet Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was at the meeting, said Trump "was teasing us," and it was "in no way a serious comment."
However, following that December meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Trump continued to publicly advocate for Canada to join the U.S., responding to Trudeau's resignation on Jan. 6, 2025, by writing on Truth Social: "If Canada merged with the U.S., 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."
The next day, a reporter asked him during a news conference whether he was considering military force to annex and acquire Canada, to which Trump responded no, but he would use economic force to "get rid of that artificially drawn line."
In the weeks following, Trump repeated these points numerous times, including at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 23, 2025, where he said Canada should become a 51st state so "we won't have to tariff you."
Trudeau responded publicly on March 4, 2025, saying, "We will never be the 51st state."
We reached out to Trump's and Trudeau's offices seeking comment and will update this story if we receive a response.
As recently as March 11, 2025, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "the only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State" in a post about reciprocal tariffs between the two countries. The full post was as follows:
As of this writing, Trump has not publicly suggested the use of military force to annex Canada.
However, on March 7, 2025, The New York Times reported that four people, on condition of anonymity, shared details of two conversations Trudeau and Trump had on Feb. 3 in which Trump reportedly claimed he did not believe the border between the U.S. and Canada was valid and wanted to revise it. Snopes has not independently verified the details of these conversations.
In the same story, the Times reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called LeBlanc, the Canadian Cabinet minister, after the Feb. 3 calls between Trump and Trudeau and claimed Trump wanted to eject Canada from the Five Eyes, a collaborative intelligence group that also includes the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The Times reported Lutnick said Trump was "reviewing" the military cooperation between the two countries and also wanted to discard the Great Lakes agreements and conventions, which dictate how the U.S. and Canada share and manage lakes Erie, Huron, Ontario and Superior.
This claim spread to multiple outlets and social media sites; for example, one post on X (archived) received more than 8 million views as of this writing. Great Lakes Now, a news outlet supported by Detroit PBS, ran a headline that read: "Trump threatens Great Lakes agreements between U.S. and Canada." However, the story's claim relied on the Times' reporting, which we have not substantiated.
Most recently, on March 13, 2025, Trump stated in a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, "To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state."
In sum, Trump has been explicitly and increasingly vocal about his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. He has not suggested the use of military force