U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is considering using “economic force” to merge Canada with the United States, arguing that “we don't need anything they have” to trade with and repeating his wish that Canada becomes a state of the United States.
Trump, in a wide-ranging news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida less than two weeks after taking office, also said he wants NATO members to spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense. , more than doubling the current target of two percent.
His comments were the latest in recent threats against former U.S. allies, renewing questions and concerns about plans to use trade as a cudgel, and went beyond similar comments he has made about making Canada part of the United States.
Trump told reporters that he would not rule out using military action to get the United States to regain control of the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland controlled by Denmark.
Asked if he was considering the same for “annexing and acquiring Canada,” which Trump has repeatedly said should become the 51st state of the United States, Trump responded: “No, economic strength.”
“Canada and the United States, that would really be a big deal,” he said. “If we get rid of that artificially drawn line and see what it looks like, it would be much better for national security as well.”
Trump repeatedly claimed that the United States “subsidizes” Canada to the tune of $200 billion in trade and spends billions more on continental defense programs like NORAD than Canada, which he said “essentially does not have a military.”
“We don't need your cars, we don't need your wood,” he continued. “We don't need anything they have. We don't need your dairy products.
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“We don't need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada?
Canada and the United States are each other's largest trading partners, with more than $3.6 billion in goods and services crossing the border daily. The U.S. Trade Representative's office says the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which is different from a subsidy, was $53.5 billion in 2022.
Trump first floated the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States when he hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian officials at Mar-a-Lago in November, shortly after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the 25 percent on all products from Canada and Mexico.
Although Canadians said at the time that Trump was joking, the US president-elect has repeated the comment several times on social media and called Trudeau a “governor.”
Trump said Tuesday that because of all the money the United States spends in Canada, “they should be a state.”
“We do it out of habit, and we do it because we like our neighbors and we've been good neighbors, but we can't do it forever,” he said.
Trump suggested he plans to follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on Canada, despite initially linking it to demands for greater border security, which Ottawa has sought to address.
He said the tariffs will “offset” the “record numbers” of immigrants and drugs entering the United States from Canada and Mexico.
“We want to get along with everyone, but you know, it takes two to tango,” he said.
NATO members should spend 5%
Trump also said he wants NATO members to spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense. The military alliance has set a two per cent spending target, which Canada is currently not meeting.
“If you're going to have a country and a regular military, you're in the four percent,” Trump said. Currently, the United States spends 3.38 percent on defense.
“Everyone can afford it, but they should be at five percent, not two percent.”
Canada, which currently spends 1.37 percent of GDP on defense, projects to reach 1.76 percent by 2030. The government says it is on a “clear path” to reach two percent by 2032, although the responsible of the parliamentary budget has raised questions about the spending plan.
NATO allies, including the United States during the Biden administration and during Trump's first term, have for years criticized Canada for failing to meet the two per cent target.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested that NATO's spending target should be raised to three percent, given the growing threat posed by Russia and other foreign adversaries.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his oft-told story of refusing to agree to help NATO members that miss spending targets if they are attacked, but said that threat was what led more members to increase their defense spending.
“I received a lot of criticism from the media (for making that threat),” Trump said. “And you know what happened? The money began to pour in. “That's why NATO has money.”
US President Joe Biden has taken credit for 23 members now meeting the target, up from just six in 2021, as he leads efforts to rally Western allies around support for Ukraine after the invasion. of Russia in 2022.
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