Trump 'maintains his position' on Canada becoming 51 state: Press secretary

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For a president who typically has a whole lot to say, Donald Trump has been quiet about Canada in recent weeks.

But if the U.S. president has been toning down his Canada-U.S. relations rhetoric, it’s purely by coincidence.

So said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who during Tuesday’s press briefing was asked by the CBC’s Katie Simpson if Trump’s pause on talking about Canada becoming the 51st state was intentional.

“I would reject the president’s position on Canada has shifted,” Leavitt said. “Perhaps he just hasn’t been asked about Canada … from this group in the Oval Office. The president still maintains his position on Canada.

“The United States has been subsidizing Canada’s national defence. He believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st state of the United States of America.”

Prior to a snap federal election being called a few weeks ago, Trump had seemingly made it his full-time job to remind anyone who would listen of his plans for Canada to join the U.S. as a state.

“I think Canada is going to be a very serious contender to be our 51st state,” Trump said in February. He had also repeated called former prime minister Justin Trudeau “Governor Trudeau” before Trudeau was replaced by current Liberal Leader Mark Carney.

Trump has since initiated a trade war by imposing global tariffs such as a 25% levy on all imported vehicles that started on April 3 — including Canadian vehicles that  are not compliant with the Canada-U.S. Mexico Agreement.

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Trump on Monday suggested he was looking to extend a lifeline of some sort to the automaking industry.

“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies where they’re switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico and other places,” he said. “And they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here. But they need a little bit of time. So we’re talking about things like that.”

Asked on Tuesday whether any tariff relief was part of that plan, Leavitt said nothing was set in stone.

“I don’t have anything to read out for you there, but I think the point the president was making is flexibility,” she said. “And he has flexibility when it comes to negotiations and talks, but ultimately his goal in his fair trade deals that he is pursuing with many countries around the world is to put the American worker first.

“We had automakers and autoworkers here at the White House on Liberation Day who believe in this president and his negotiating ability to put them first and to bring those jobs back to the United States of America. The president has been very clear about that in his conversations with the automakers.”

On Tuesday, Honda Canada said it was not considering changes to its Canadian automotive production, refuting a news report saying it was looking to shift some production to the U.S.