President-elect Donald Trump made a new comment about Canada becoming an American state on Monday, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned from his post.
"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 said in a publication on his social media platform, 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!!!" Trump added.
Trump has not presented any formal plans to this end, but voices across the border have expressed support for the idea. Among them is famed Canadian investor Kevin O'Leary, a member of well-known TV show "Shark Tank."
Speaking to Fox Business in late December, O'Leary said many Canadians "want to hear more" about the matter. "Think about the power of combining the two economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all that resource up to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door," O'Leary said.
He went on to list potential benefits of such a merger, including a "common currency." "Figure out taxes across the board, get everything trading both ways, create a new, almost EU-like passport. I like this idea and at least half of Canadians are interested," he added.
O'Leary had argued that among the main obstacles to this becoming a reality was the "collapsing" Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, that is no longer a reality after Trudeau's resignation on Monday.
Trudeau said he will down from both posts after "the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process." "This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I have to fight internal battles I cannot be the best option in that election," he added.
The announcement came as a growing number of Liberal MPs called on Trudeau to resign as party leader. He had been resisting in his post, but the situation became unsustainable after Chrystia Freeland, his top lieutenant and finance minister, resigned in mid-December citing policy differences.
Freeland said in a letter that she resigned after being approached by Trudeau about potentially being moved to a new cabinet role. She also said they were "at odds" regarding the best way to handle Trump.
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