U.S. President Donald Trump injected himself into the federal election on Monday, appearing to suggest Canadians vote for him when they go to the polls.
“Good luck to the Great people of Canada,'” Trump wroteย on his social media site Truth Social.
“Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America.”
Trump went on in his post to repeat his argumentย that Canada joiningย the U.S. would be advantageous to the country, along with the false claim thatย the United States subsidizes Canada with “hundreds of billions of dollars a year.”
Trump’s trade war with Canada and the tariffs imposed on the country, along with repeated threats about Canadian sovereignty, became key issues in the 36-day campaign.
The U.S. president became an issue again last week after it was revealed in a Radio-Canada report that Trump had raised the issue of Canada becoming the 51st state in a call he had with Liberal Leader Mark Carney on Mar. 28.
On the campaign trail, Carney was forced to respond to questions about why, at the time, heย did not mention that Trump brought up the 51st state issue,ย instead saying thatย Trumpย hadย respected Canada’s sovereignty.
When asked in a recent interview with Time magazine whether he was just trolling when talking about Canadaย as a 51st state, Trump responded.ย “Actually, no, I’m not.”
“I’m really not trolling. Canada is an interesting case.โฆย I say the only way this thing that really works is for Canada to become a state.”
