Donald Trump is hungrily eyeing Canada and desperately trying to figure out a way to make it America’s 51st state. But, at least in the war for Canadian public opinion, he’s falling flat on his face. Canadians are infuriated at his open threats to invade, his slapping the country with aggressive tariffs, ICE’s imprisoning innocent Canadians on flimsy pretences, the frequent insults to its leaders, and the newly implemented aggressive border searches.
The cherry on top was the recent Canadian elections, in which the broadly Trump-sympathetic conservatives saw their lead evaporate in a matter of weeks, resulting in a crushing loss to Mark Carney’s liberals. Even so, Trump is still beating the 51st state drum, teasing that surrendering to him could earn Canada a spot under the “golden dome”.
King Charles, Canada’s head of state, is having none of it. Clearly sensing a real threat to one of his 14 realms, he’s drawn a line in the sand against Trump. Speaking at a “historic address for the opening of parliament at the Senate in the capital Ottawa,” he made a tradition-breaking intervention in politics by referencing Canadians increasingly “feeling anxious and worried about the drastically changing world around them”.
Charles concluded his message by underlining a phrase from the Canadian national anthem, emphasizing that “the true north is indeed strong and free”:
“As the anthem reminds us, the true north is indeed strong and free.”
— 🇨🇦CoffeyTimeNews🇨🇦 (@CoffeyTimeNews) May 27, 2025
From: King Charles
To: Donald Trump
🖕U pic.twitter.com/Xy9JJA1Ovr
Charles also underlined that a rapidly more unstable United States could have benefits for Canada, saying:
“A confident Canada, which has welcomed new Canadians, including from some of the most tragic global conflict zones, can seize this opportunity by recognising that all Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away. And that by staying true to Canadian values, Canada can build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians.”
No seriously, could it happen?
The chances of Trump actually invading Canada remain slim. But “slim” isn’t “nothing”, and we already know the U.S. military has previously had contingency plans drawn up for just such an invasion. The huge military disparity between Canada and the United States means that, at least on paper, Trump could simply seize Canada through sheer might alone if he chose to.
Fortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that. American soldiers would feel deeply conflicted about military action against such a close ally, there would inevitably be partisan rebellion from furious Canadians, enormous pressure in America to cease hostilities, and the absolute disgust from former allies and the continued isolation of America on the international stage.
Basically, if Trump actually tried it, it’d be the North American equivalent of Putin’s attempted invasion of Ukraine. Even so, crazier things have happened, and nobody is holding Trump back anymore, so expect US-Canada tension to continue to ramp up.
Published: May 28, 2025 06:59 am