Justin Trudeau rejects Trump's proposal to make Canada '51st US state', calls it distraction tactic

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed President-elect Donald Trump’s recent comments about making Canada the 51st state, calling them "distraction from the consequences of his tariff threats".

In an interview to CNN, Trudeau rejected Trump's proposal and said that it was “not going to happen.”

Trump has mounted a scathing criticism of Trudeau, who has announced his resignation as the Prime Minister, and said that Canada should become the 51st state of US. He also mocked Trudeau by calling him the "governor of Canada".

“President Trump... is getting people to be somewhat distracted by that, by that conversation, to take away from the conversation around 25% tariffs,” Trudeau told CNN.

In November, Trump had promised significant hikes in tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China, effective immediately upon his inauguration.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

He said that the tariff will remain in force until drugs like Fentanyl and all "Illegal Aliens" stop invading the US.

Trudeau warned that such tariffs could drastically increase costs for American consumers and businesses. “Everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive if he moves forward on these tariffs,” he said.

Countering Trump’s comments on annexation, Trudeau said that Canadians are proud of their national identity. “Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian. One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we’re not American.”

Earlier, Trudeau hit back at Trump's threat to use "economic force" to annex Canada, saying there is not a "snowball's chance in hell" that Canada would become part of the United States.

Trudeau also discussed the ongoing wildfires devastating California, saying that Canada has offered substantial assistance to the state.

The Prime Minister said he had been in contact with California Governor Gavin Newsom and that Canada had already sent a significant amount of firefighting equipment to aid in battling the destructive fires.