51st state 'a great discussion' for Trump and Carney, says Hoekstra as president trolls ahead of trade talks

51st state 'a great discussion' for Trump and Carney, says Hoekstra as president trolls ahead of trade talks

Carney says Canada won't react or respond to every post from the U.S. president

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said making Canada the 51st state would be "a great discussion for the president" and Prime Minister Mark Carney to have, as the White House resurrects the sensitive topic just as trade talks gear up.

After backing off his annexation threats over the past few months, U.S. President Donald Trump took a stab at Canada in a Monday night social media post.

"51st State!" he wrote alongside an article about the Canadian economy hitting a technical recession.

Hoekstra amplified the post, sharing a screenshot on X on Tuesday.

Asked why he was reviving comments that many Canadians have interpreted as a threat to the country's sovereignty, Hoekstra said Wednesday, "As the president's representative to Canada, I present the president's views."

He also tried to couch the repost, arguing he doesn't do it all himself.

For his part, Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday shrugged off Trump's latest jab as a post by an "exceptionally active user of social media."

"And we're not going to respond or react to everything that he posts."

Hoekstra asked about sharing Trump's 51st state post, says he represents president's views to Canada

Asked if Canada was the 51st state, the U.S. envoy said "that's great discussion for the president and the prime minister to have."

"They will set that policy," he said during a visit to Quebec City. "I have no instructions on the 51st state. If the president and the prime minister want to have that discussion, they can have that discussion, not me."

The resurfaced comments come not long before Canada gave official notice to the U.S. and Mexico that it wants the continental free trade deal between the three countries to be renewed.

In a letter to his American and Mexican counterparts, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country is seeking renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) when it comes up for review on July 1.

The White House has signalled over the past year that it does not want a simple renewal of CUSMA and instead wants to see significant changes, including on automotive exports and access to Canada's dairy market.

Carney says he's 'not going to respond' to Trump's latest 51st state post

Hoekstra had said last year that it was time to move on from the president's 51st state taunts.

"It's done," he told CBC News in May 2025, suggesting Trump had abandoned ideas of annexing Canada.

David Paterson, Ontario's representative in Washington, D.C., said Tuesday that the U.S. president's trolling is typical.

"I don't think we should get too upset about those things," Paterson told CBC News Network. "It doesn't help us to do the job, which is to solve issues, and there are real issues that have to be discussed."

Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC's Parliament Hill bureau, where she covers national security and the RCMP. She worked previously for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can reach her at catharine.tunney@cbc.ca

With files from Campbell MacDiarmid and JP Tasker