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‘Merger with the US’: Trump repeats ‘51st US state’ quip in meeting with Canada PM Mark Carney | Watch
In his last visit to the White House, Carney had responded to Trump, telling him that Canada will never be up for sale.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday once again referred to Canada as the 51st state of the US, this time during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. During their bilateral meeting at the Oval Office, Trump joked about a possible merger of Canada and the United States.
Carney laughed along, as Trump later added that while the two nations have had their differences, they can work them out.
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Trump stated that he and Carney will be talking about certain aspects of the US-Canada relationship, including Canada's recent recognition of statehood for Palestine.
“We've had some natural conflict, but we'll probably work that out. We've had a strong relationship, and your hosting of the various countries that showed up was a beautiful job you did, and I appreciate it very much. We're going to be talking about trade. We're going to be talking about different things. We'll certainly be talking about Gaza.,” said Trump.
The Canadian PM lauded Trump's actions and called him a ‘transformative President.’
"You are a transformative president. Since then, transformation in the economy, unprecedented commitment to the NATO partners to defence spending. Peace from India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Disabling Iran as a force of terror," he said.
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As Carney continued to praise Trump, the Labour leader highlighted the agenda for their discussion, "This is, in many respects, the most important..."
Trump butted in, "The merger of Canada and the United States!"' triggering a serious of laughs across the room.
In his last visit to the White House, Carney had responded to Trump, telling him that Canada will never be up for sale.
Carney's visit to the White House comes amid the ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the US, especially due to Trump's tariffs on the neighbouring country.
The Canadian PM's visit comes as Trump increased the tariff on steel, autos, digital services and more, which will impact the Canadian economy as well.
