U.S. president reportedly concedes that undoing 200 years of Canadian history in one presidential term 'is not going to happen
Given his mercurial nature, it’s impossible to say
that Donald Trump has entirely abandoned his wish to make Canada the 51st
state, but it would appear that the U.S. president’s reverence for King Charles
III — whom he was seemingly unaware is still Canada’s head of state — has
tempered that desire.
“Do they still recognize the King? Or have they
stopped that,” he asked royal biographer and author Robert Hardman, who
interviewed the president about the monarchy for his latest book, Elizabeth II:
In Private, In Public, set for release this week.
Hardman, who shared multiple excerpts from the book
with the U.K.
Daily Mail, said the topic came up in the late 2025 interview at Trump’s
Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when the president asked the veteran journalist’s
thoughts on the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
He said it was a bad idea that risked destroying
NATO and pivoted to a request that he stop suggesting Canada, a staunch
historical ally to the U.K. and “a gallant D-Day partner,” be annexed by the
U.S.
“Attempting to acquire it would undoubtedly make the
King of Canada unhappy,” he included, prompting Trump’s query about the
nation’s sovereign rule.
Hardman said the president countered that Canada’s
“terrible politicians” are friendly to his face, but cut him down behind his
back and went on to repeat his false claim about the arbitrary establishment of
the Canada-U.S. border.
“The problem is some guy drew that straight line to
make a border. He should just have drawn it 50 miles further north and then
there wouldn’t be a problem,” Trump said, according to Hardman.
He said that Trump accepted that his dream of Canada
as the 51st state wasn’t unfeasible within a single presidential term.
“I suppose the Canadians have got 200 years of
history and all that ‘Oh, Canada’ thing. You can’t deal with that in
three-and-a-half years. I guess it’s not going to happen,” Trump reportedly
contemplated.
“This was the closest I had heard to an
acknowledgement that, as long as Canada had the King, Mr. Trump was not going
to usurp him,” Hardman wrote.
Trump hasn’t publicly offered up a direct 51st state
comment in some time, but he’s alluded to the notion.
In a Truth Social post about Asian Carp in the Great
Lakes last month, Trump referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney as the “future
Governor of Canada.” He’s made the jab at Carney seldom, but used it
in reference to former prime minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly before he left
office last year.
In January, he shared a
doctored image showing a Western Hemisphere in which Canada — along
with Greenland and Venezuela — covered by the American flag.
While Buckingham Palace, on behalf of the Royal Family, has stated that Trump’s 51st state rhetoric is not something it would comment on, there have been subtle signs of support for Canada.
As reported by The
Conversation, last March, amidst repeated Trump’s barbs, a week after
meeting with Trudeau in the U.K. and after donning Canadian medals and honours
at a British naval ceremony, the King and Queen Camilla planted a red maple
tree on the grounds of Sandringham, the royal family’s private estate in
Norfolk.
A few days later, he met with representatives from
the Canadian Senate, presenting a ceremonial sword to Gregory Peters, the Usher
of the Black Rod, one of the Senate’s chief protocol officers.
Then, of course, came the King and Queen’s
much-heralded visit to Canada last May, where Charles delivered the first
throne speech to make the opening of the 45th Parliament.
The speech ended with a standing ovation after he
said: “As the anthem reminds us: The True North is indeed strong and free!”
As for U.S. state visits to the U.K. and vice versa,
Trump conducted his interview with Hardman roughly three months after his visit
to England last September, his second as president, a feat the writer said
Trump was very proud of.
From the left, former U.S. president George W. Bush and late Queen Elizabeth II waves alongside First Lady Laura Bush and Prince Phillip from the balcony at the White House in 2007. It was the last time a British monarch has made a state visit to the U.S. Photo by JIM WATSON /AFP/Getty Images
The visit comes as the president and British Prime
Minister Keir Starmer have found themselves at odds over the Iran war. Trump
has criticized his counterpart for not involving the U.K. and for not granting
use of bases to the U.S. military.
Trump has consistently expressed admiration for the
Royal Family over the years and he was particularly enamoured with Queen
Elizabeth II.
“She has embodied the spirit of dignity, duty, and
patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart,” he
said during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace on his first visit in
2019.
After her death, he issued a statement in which he
called her “a grand and beautiful lady.”