When Donald Trump first suggested his desire for the United States to “absorb” its northern neighbor, Canada, Republican senators laughed him off — sometimes literally.
“He was mostly trolling Trudeau,” Sen. Ted Cruz told NOTUS in January.
In the two months since then, Trump assumed the presidency and suggested he is seriously angling for a U.S. takeover of Canada and is using the economic means to coerce the nation to join the union.
Senate Republicans are no longer laughing, but said they would vote in favor of Canadian statehood if that’s what the country’s leaders decide is best.
“Up to Canada,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told NOTUS.
“Totally up to them,” Sen. Josh Hawley said.
“Ultimately, that’s Canada’s decision,” Sen. Bernie Moreno said. “It would be a good one.”
Cruz, who was born in Canada, deferred NOTUS’ question to statements made on his podcast, where he’s “talked about this at length.”
The Trump administration has pummeled Canada with tariffs that have spooked markets and risked blackouts in northern U.S. states. In an early morning Truth Social post Tuesday, Trump made clear that all tariffs levied against Canada would be erased if the country elected to give up its status as an independent nation.
“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Trump wrote. “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated this point at a Tuesday press briefing.
“The president has made it clear he believes Canadians will be better served economically, militarily, if they were to become the 51st state,” she said.
Republicans said they agree.
“Think about it, they would have the full weight and power of the United States,” Moreno said. “They’d share resources with us. They’d never have to worry about tariffs, they’d have better coffee — all kinds of benefits.”
Moreno and other Republicans said they were unconcerned about the prospect of Canada sending two new Democrats to the Senate — a worry many conservatives have voiced about statehood for Puerto Rico or Washington, D.C.
“I don’t worry about that,” Moreno said. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is we can’t keep having fentanyl come across our border.”
“We’d have to, maybe they’d be multiple states, balance them out,” Hawley said.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis said she’s not really taking the risk to a Republican majority into account, adding that Canada has many similar issues and political patterns as the U.S.
“I don’t think about it that way,” Lummis said. “I think about it more of what’s good for Canada.”
At the very least, Canada ought to consider Trump’s offer, Lummis said.
“It’s so interesting to even be invited to join another country,” Lummis said. “I mean, we don’t kick those ideas around very often, so they should have a conversation, like the people of Greenland.”
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Mark Alfred is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.