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Trump has repeatedly said he wants Canada to become the 51st US state. Here's a fact check

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Summary
Nutrition label

67% Informative

Trump has repeatedly said the US has a “ $200 billion ” trade deficit with Canada , though it is nowhere close to that.

He also falsely said Canada is one of the world’s highest-tariff countries, but it is actually low in global rankings.

In 2025 alone, Trump has said the Canadian public likes the idea of becoming the 51st state, which the public overwhelmingly opposes.

Trump falsely claimed in a January social media post that Canada joining the US would secure Canada “from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them” Canada has never been surrounded by Russian or Chinese ships, let alone been “constantly” surrounded.

Canada ’s defense spending is not as low as Trump claimed.

VR Score

65

Informative language

65

Neutral language

2

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

58

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

24

https://www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-missions/canada-june-2024#:~:text=Canada%20consistently%20ranks%20among%20our,totaled%20%2428.2%20billion%20in%202023https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-mar-a-lago-january-7-2025/https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/trade-spotlight-us-agricultural-exports-close-2024-on-strong-notehttps://x.com/CdnBankers/status/1886506280002707961https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-transition-team-met-pmo-staff-1.7481228https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/fact-sheets/market-access-and-dairy-outcomeshttps://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/search/?q=51st&sort=desc&spage=1https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/trad0125.pdfhttps://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/international-markets-us-trade/countries-regions/usmca-canada-mexico/canada-trade-fdi#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20USMCA%20continues%20NAFTA's,%2C%20poultry%2C%20and%20egg%20products.https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-china-arctic-alaska-1.7282577https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114116271026986660https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdfhttps://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114144217763824399https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/publications/transparency-transparence/arctic-arctique/arctic-policy-politique-arctique.aspx?lang=enghttps://www.wellsfargojobs.com/en/locations/canada/#:~:text=Our%20first%20office%20in%20Canada,from%20GE%20Capital%20in%202016.https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-document-signing-ceremony-and-exchange-with-reporters-1https://financialpost.com/news/economy/canada-dairy-quotas-dont-unfairly-limit-us-accesshttps://youtu.be/41A4YidCQxY?feature=shared&t=410https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113782682597333035https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-economy-oval-office-march-7-2025/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/TM.TAX.MRCH.WM.AR.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=truehttps://youtu.be/41A4YidCQxY?feature=shared&t=406https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/large-majority-of-canadians-reject-trumps-annexation-overtures-poll-suggests/https://www.idfa.org/news/idfa-statement-on-potential-u-s-tariff-on-canadian-dairy-products

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