U.S. ambassador stands by Trump’s latest taunt on Canada being 51st state

QUEBEC — The U.S. ambassador to Canada is making no apologies for reposting U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest 51st state taunt and thinks it would be an interesting discussion to have.

Arriving for a meeting with Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette on Wednesday, Peter Hoekstra said he represents the president and his job is to promote his views.

“I’ve said that ever since I’ve been here (as ambassador),” Hoekstra told reporters arriving at the premier’s office. “That’s a great discussion (the 51st state) for the president and the prime minister to have.

“They will set that policy. 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.”

Trump made the remark about the 51st state Monday evening in a Truth Social post commenting on a report on the weakness of the Canadian economy.

Hoekstra, a longtime Trump loyalist who has made controversial comments in the past about Canadians, reshared it even as Canadian officials were headed to Washington to advance trade negotiations.

His reshare also came as Hoekstra arrived in Quebec City for a three-day visit. On Monday, he participated in a panel on U.S.-Canada trade sponsored by the Fédération des chefs d’entreprise du Québec.

Hoekstra defended the reshare by saying it is routine policy.

“Mechanically, I don’t do all the reposting and retweeting myself,” Hoekstra said. “My understanding is we repost 100 per cent of the president’s tweets which deal with Canada.

“I represent the president of the United States. He sent that tweet out Monday. We retweet it within 24 hours of the president sending a message, sending America’s message about how he feels about Canada and being fully transparent with Canadians about what the president says.

“I represent the president of the United States of America. My job is to promote America’s views and the views of the president of the United States and not my personal views.”

His meeting with Fréchette lasted about an hour. Fréchette has had her eye on the ongoing trade dispute with the United States for weeks.

Her first trip outside Quebec after becoming premier in April was to Washington, where she managed to land a meeting with the U.S. trade representative responsible for the revision of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

On her way to question period Wednesday after the meeting with Hoekstra, Fréchette chose her words carefully, making no reference to the 51st state controversy.

“It was a good meeting,” Fréchette said, adding she made a pitch for a stable framework to ease business between Quebec and the United States.

“I reminded him of the importance we represent for the Americans when it comes to aluminum, the link to steel, softwood. These are the sectors he recognized as important,” Fréchette told reporters waiting for her in the hall.

“So, I was very happy with this meeting. My message was we need to lower the tariffs.”

A few minutes before the meeting, Louise Blais, Quebec representative at the CUSMA talks, also spoke to reporters.

She said she was disappointed with the ambassador’s reshare.

“And the timing was not great, either,” Blais said. “But we can’t get distracted by all this noise, which is created by a president who has his way of operating.

“We must stay focused on our objectives as Mr. Carney (the prime minister) said yesterday. We must not fall into the trap, either.”

Blais said, overall, the visit of the ambassador went very well and things said in public do not necessarily reflect what is said privately.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney was also cautious when asked about the reshare by the ambassador.

“It’s an administration that we have to work with,” he said in Longueuil. “It’s our biggest trading relationship. It’s our biggest security relationship.”

This is not the first controversy sparked by Hoekstra. In September 2025 speaking in Halifax, he touched off a storm when he said he was disappointed with anti-American sentiment being expressed in Canada because of the U.S. tariffs.

“I’m disappointed that I came to Canada — a Canada that is very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship.

“You ran a campaign where it was anti-American, elbows up, me too. You know, that’s an anti-American campaign. That has continued. That’s disappointing.”

Later that fall, he got into a very public expletive-laced tirade with Ontario representative David Johnston.

His relationship with Canadians is so bad that a petition was created last February calling on the government to review his conduct. If he was found to have not respected diplomatic protocols, the petition said his removal should be considered.

Sponsored by federal MP Alexandre Boulerice, who will be a candidate in the fall election for Québec solitaire, the petition as of Wednesday had 16,945 signatures.