US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump began referring to Canada as the "51st state" after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in November 2024 that a 25% US tariff could lead to the "end of existence" of Canada.

In an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, Rubio said that at the Mar-a-Lago meeting, Trump told Trudeau: "If you can't exist without unfair trade, you should become a state."

Economic dispute and tariff suspension

In response to the tariff threat, Trudeau agreed to a temporary tariff suspension with the US until March 4, promising to tighten border controls and designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.

Trump claims the U.S. is “subsidizing” Canada by $100 billion to $250 billion, but Canada points to a $67.9 billion U.S. trade deficit caused by buying Canadian oil at discounted prices.

How Trudeau joked about “trading” Canada for Vermont

According to Trudeau, when Trump suggested Canada become the 51st state, he responded with a joke about “trading” for Vermont or California. However, Trump didn’t find it funny, and the topic was quickly dropped.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc initially took Trump’s comments as a joke, but after the president repeated his comments, he admitted that it had “gone beyond” humor.