About a week after President-elect Donald Trump joked to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada should join the United States as the 51st state, Trump posted an AI-generated image on Truth Social teasing Trudeau. The image, which shows Trump standing near a Canadian flag with a mountainous backdrop, was accompanied by the caption “Oh Canada!”
This post came a day after Fox News reported that during Trudeau’s visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump suggested that Canada could become the 51st state if US tariffs harmed its economy. The president-elect had threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods if both countries did not address illegal immigration and illicit drugs entering the US.
Canada addressed Trump’s comment through Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was present at the Mar-a-Lago dinner. LeBlanc clarified that Trump’s remark was not serious, stating, “The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue, in no way a serious comment.”