1. A trade deficit is NOT a subsidy. If we buy billions in diamonds from a poor African country, the fact that they can afford little in the way of US products doesn't mean we're subsidizing them. We're buying what we want. If I sell you my used car for $5000 and then I buy a $500 bicycle from you, you are not subsidizing me $4500.
2. Last year's trade deficit with Canada was $63 billion, so where the $200 billion number comes from is anyone's guess.
3. Canada has expressed zero interest in union or annexation with us.
4. "We need Greenland very badly." Why? Will China or Russia invade us through there? We already have a base there, important for monitoring any subsonic attacks to the US mainland. Do we want more bases? We can get them without threatening invasion. Is the real reason Greenland's mineral resources? Again, we can get them without threatening invasion.
We all know that President Trump enjoys stirring the pot (otherwise known as trolling, for example, his Pope Trump post.) That said, his hardcore negotiating skills are best deployed if focused on critical matters like trade (especially nowadays) instead of pursuing ludicrous objectives. Canada and Greenland are distractions that have exhausted their entertainment value. America First does not mean America Bigger.
Agreed. We have a base in Greenland already. Hasn’t it been there since World War II? If we want additional military presence, I’m sure that can be negotiated.
And what is the goal with Greenland? Does Trump want to make Greenland an American territory?
Canada as the 51st state is something that just will not happen. It seems pointless to talk about it, even in joking.
Trump is trolling about Canada. A slap to their leftist leadership, one they deserve.
His talk about Greenland and the Panama Canal is not trolling. It’s a serious game of international diplomacy. One that will isolate China, one that will make us safer from conflict, and keep other nations from plotting against us.
You underestimate his brilliance.
Have a referendum in the western provinces on joining the USA, each as a state!
Why all these new people in here when they should be happy at home at DU??
Why do trolls not get ZOTTED anylonger?
What do I need from Canaduh? Another polar vortex? Gotta find a way to keep them there.
There is zero need for an acquisition of Canada or Greenland. They would just complicate current politics and economics with an unknown value added for the United States.
As far as national security, if either country becomes easy pickings for a foreign power, we invade in a heartbeat.
Well, if we deport all Canadians, it might work.
Alberta is real and should be a goal.
Referendum on independence probably this year.
“A trade deficit is NOT a subsidy”
It can be if the nation’s tariffs are high and will not allow American products in, such as Canada’s sliding scale tariffs on American dairy, or China with everything.
Also, the subsidy includes defense costs.
” Will China or Russia invade us through there?”
Perhaps you need to go off and practice thinking before you announce presume to be a deep thinker. China or Russia could overtake Greenland by force or use the same methods they have used on the U S Congress or the South Korean government, to gain control of Greenland. Go ask Biden about their success.
We do not need all of Canada. Just trade California for Alberta and Saskatchewan. The other Canadian provinces are communist.
I hope we get Greenland.
There’s a case to be made that Trump wanted Carney to win all along, which may have been at least partial motivation for his antagonistic “51st state” comments. Sundance has pointed out that USMCA comes up for review in July 2026 and makes the argument that POTUS wants out of the tri-lateral agreement, preferring separate deals with each country. A Poilievre administration would have made such a move more difficult.
https://www.stratego-st.com/newsletters/renegotiation-of-usmca-in-2026-key-aspects/
We should offer Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia territorial status with an open border and military protection for a deal on lumber, oil, and minerals. They can remain independent and separate from Canadian socialist rule and we get a good deal on their exports. It would be a win-win.
Your #1 is right on target. Trump needs to drop this nonsense.
It's called "flooding the zone."
They buried Trump and his agenda with lawfare, forcing him to play wack-a-mole.
He's burying them the same way so they have to play wack-a-mole too.
The U.S. defense budget is approaching one trillion dollars per year, some portion of which could fairly be imputed to protecting Canada from bad actors.
How much could be imputed to Canada's defense I don't know.
But I doubt Canada could have a standalone military capable of defeating determined foes - like Red China or Russia - for an expenditure of $137 billion annually.
Let's be honest. The U.S. keeps Canada safe and frees up Canadian budget to provide socialized medical care that Canadians love; except when they have to slip across the American border to obtain immediate healthcare for serious illness.
Just give Alberta tactical nukes and invade Montreal.
I have always supported Trump but his lack of self-discipline and discretion is very costly. With his idle “musings,” he caused the conservatives in Australia and Canada to lose their very winnable races. Here in America, he should have won last November’s election by a huge margin, based upon Biden’s terrible administration. But he barely squeaked through, winning Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania by very small margins. No doubt he will utter more “musings” in the next year to cause us to lose the House.
I agree with you - we can get what we need on Greenland without any need to conquer it. Ditto for Canada. Of all Trumps' wrong-headed utterances, his opening this can of worms - the dream of a Great American Empire - is by far the worst. If not shut it would transmute into a leftist vision for an Orwellian imperial state spanning North America. And that in turn would most likely lead (after a period of decay and repression and simmering regional revolts) into a fragmentation. Not only Mexico and Quebec going their own way, but the West coast and New England breaking away from the heartland; Canadian maritime states turning loose from Ontario and western Canada. I can see the American Midwest turning into a debatable land, seeking trade routes alternately via alliances with the South (Mississipi river valley) and east (alliances with Quebec or New England as they vie for control of the St. Lawrence).
All of which is to say, it would shatter America rather than creating a unified imperial superstate. And just why freedom-loving Americans should want an imperial superstate Trump can't say. Ordinary folks can do without those grandoise dreams.