Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that Canada has no intention of becoming the 51st state of the United States.
“It won't do,” he said.
Speaking with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC's “Inside” on Sunday, Trudeau discussed President-elect Donald Trump's repeated comments that Canada could become part of the United States.
“I know as a successful negotiator he likes to keep people off balance. The 51st state, that's not going to happen,” he said.
The prime minister, who faces growing unpopularity in opinion polls ahead of national elections, has announced he will step down in March after his Liberal Party elects a new leader.
Trump recently raised the bar with repeated comments about the annexation of Canada.
“Get rid of that artificially drawn line and look at what that looks like, and that would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something.
He even went so far as to refer to the prime minister as “Governor Trudeau,” a position usually held by US state leaders.
But on television Sunday, Trudeau said he was oblivious to those blows.
“I tend to focus on the essentials rather than people picking nicknames for me. I mean, if I was that thin-skinned, I probably wouldn't have lasted this long in politics.”
One of the big reasons Canada won't join America, Trudeau said, is simple: Canadians don't want to.
When trying to define their national identity, Trudeau said Canadians are likely to say “we're not Americans,” among other things.
Earlier this week, Trudeau put it more bluntly, saying there wasn't a “snowball's chance in hell” of the two sides becoming one.
Trudeau said what worries him is the impact of the tariffs on Canadians and Americans. Tensions between Trump and Canada have simmered since the president-elect announced his plan to impose a 25% tariff on goods coming from Canada.
The move will have a significant impact on Canada's economy and could lead to retaliatory tariffs.
“Canadians are incredibly proud to be Canadian, but people are talking about that now, not the impact of the 25 per cent tariffs,” Trudeau said. “No American wants to pay 25 percent more for electricity or oil and gas coming from Canada.
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media that she met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence over the weekend to discuss the importance of energy partnerships between the US and Canada. Alberta is a major exporter of oil and gas.