Donald Trump lobbed a fresh taunt at Canada as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tries to weather a crisis sparked by the sudden departure of a minister who was a bulwark against the U.S.president-elect’s plan to start trade wars with his neighbours.

“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over US$100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense!” Trump said in a post early Wednesday on Truth Social. “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!”

Trump has been joking that Canada could always become the U.S.’s 51st state — and Trudeau its governor — ever since the Canadian leader rushed out to see him at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But the light-hearted comments seemingly made in jest over a Thanksgiving dinner have taken a more sinister undertone with Trudeau now fighting for his political survival.

It’s unclear why Trump cited the figure of US$100 million and he’s used US$100 billion in the past. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Canada through October was US$50.5 billion and the gap for all of 2023 was US$64.3 billion, according to Census data. In a 2018 post on the social media platform known as Twitter at the time, he complained about how Canada makes “almost US$100 Billion Dollars in Trade with U.S.”

In Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau tried to downplay the most serious challenge yet facing his leadership. “Like most families, sometimes we have fights around the holidays,” he told a gathering for his Liberal Party’s 153 lawmakers and their staffers.

That was a glancing reference to the exit of his longtime trusted Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, a day after she shocked the country by publishing a scathing resignation letter.

In an earlier post, Trump welcomed her departure, calling her “totally toxic.”

Bloomberg.com