U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reignited tensions with Canada after mocking the country and its leadership in a social media post on Wednesday.
Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and made mocking remarks suggesting Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense! Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection,” Trump said.
This comes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suffers the political blow of the unexpected resignation of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
In her resignation letter, Freeland criticised Trudeau’s leadership, mentioning Trump’s threat to impost 25% tariffs on Canada.
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” she wrote.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs.
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognise the gravity of the moment.”