Ontario Premier Doug Ford has snapped back at Donald Trump’s frequent taunts about treating Canada as a U.S. state with a counterproposal: buying Alaska.
“You know something, to the president I’ll make him a counteroffer; How about if we buy Alaska and throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time,” Ford said Monday while speaking with reporters about the threat of looming tariffs and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he’ll step down.
Trump has for weeks mocked Canada by referring to Trudeau as “Governor Justin Trudeau” and calling Canada “the 51st state.”
In a recent post on X, Trump’s son Eric also shared a photoshopped image of his father purchasing Canada on Amazon, along with Greenland and the Panama Canal.
The mockery comes amid a threat by Trump to impose a blanket 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods imported into the U.S., starting on his first day in office. Trump has said the only way to avoid the tariff is if Canada stems the flow of drugs and migrants at the border.
Canadian officials, while taking the tariff threat seriously, have mostly shrugged off Trump’s insults.
Ford, for his part, has mostly referred to Trump as having a sense of humour and liking to joke when asked about the comments.
But on Monday he apparently felt enough was enough.
“It’s not realistic,” he said when asked about the threat to annex Canada. “I know he (Trump) likes making these comments and he likes joking around. I take that seriously. He may be joking, but under my watch, that will never, ever happen.”
Ford offered his latest comments on the tariff threats as he reacted to Trudeau’s announcement Monday that he will step down as prime minister after a Liberal leadership race is held to replace him.
Ford said that despite the political turmoil, he expects federal officials to remain focused on the tariff threat.
“We need an all-hands-on-deck approach. We need the prime minister to continue doing his job,” Ford said.
He added that if the tariffs, which have been described by some experts an “existential threat” to the Canadian economy, do go ahead, then Canada will have to retaliate.
“If they do move forward, we need to make sure the federal government has a strong plan,” Ford said. “The prime minister said he would sit down with all the premiers for a face-to-face meeting. I still want to hold him to that promise. He still will be prime minister for a month, maybe two months. That has to be his number one focus.”
Trump also reacted to Trudeau’s resignation Monday, suggesting it was a sign the country can’t cut it on its own and doubling down on the annexation idea.
“Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!”
With files from The Canadian Press