President Trump has made it clear that he’s not joking when he says he wants Canada to become America’s 51st state. He brought it up in an interview with Time magazine, where a journalist mentioned some of Trump’s more unusual ideas like buying Greenland or taking control of the Panama Canal and said maybe the Canada idea was just a joke. But Trump quickly said no, he really meant it.
He went on to say that he’s serious about Canada joining the United States, even though many people think he’s just trying to stir things up. He’s brought it up several times before, and even though it sounds strange, he insists he believes it could happen if the right opportunity came along.
When asked if he wanted to grow America into an empire, Trump said not exactly. He said places like Canada and Greenland were never part of the U.S. before, so he doesn’t see it the same way. But if the situation was right — if it helped the U.S. and made sense — he’d be open to it. He talked about how Greenland could be good for U.S. national security, and said again that he wasn’t joking about Canada.
Trump hasn’t talked as much about this idea since Mark Carney became Canada’s new prime minister. Before that, Trump often made fun of the previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau, by calling him “Governor Trudeau” — like Canada was already a U.S. state.
Trump also said that the U.S. is losing a lot of money on Canada — around $200 to $250 billion every year. He claimed that America is paying to support Canada’s military and many other parts of Canadian life. He questioned why the U.S. should keep doing that, especially since he believes America doesn’t need Canada’s products like cars, lumber, or energy. He said the U.S. wants to build its own things and be more independent. For Trump, the only way this financial relationship makes sense is if Canada becomes a part of the U.S.
Most Canadians don’t like the idea. Polls show that the majority say they wouldn’t want to join the U.S. But the numbers shift a little depending on how the question is asked. Some surveys from late 2024 showed about 10 to 13 percent of Canadians were in favor. Another poll found that when people were told they would get American citizenship and their money would be converted to U.S. dollars, support went up to 30 percent.
Younger Canadians seem more open to the idea. In the same poll, 43 percent of people aged 18 to 34 said they’d support Canada joining the U.S. if it came with full citizenship and financial benefits. This suggests that while most people still don’t agree with Trump’s idea, there’s a small but growing group — especially among younger adults — who are at least willing to think about it.
