President Trump on Thursday cut off talk during a press conference with UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer about his desire to make Canada “the 51st state,” with Starmer insisting there is no daylight between the two leaders on top issues.
The White House quickly pushed back on any interpretation that Trump cut off Starmer, sharing on X, “Fake News. President Trump was clearly talking to the reporter trying to goad the leaders into division.”
The pushback came after a reporter asked the prime minister whether he discussed with Trump his “repeated statements of desire to annex Canada” and whether King Charles, who is the head of state of the country, has expressed any concern with Trump’s remarks.
“Look, we had a really good discussion, a productive discussion, a good discussion as a result of which our teams are happy to be working together on an economic deal, our teams are going to be working together on security in Ukraine,” Starmer responded. “You mention, Canada, I think you’re trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist. We’re the closest of nations and we had very good discussions today.”
“But we didn’t address Canada —” Starmer continued.
“That’s enough, thank you” Trump said, waving in the direction of the press to move on to another question.
The prime minister then stopped speaking and looked ahead into the crowd. The two leaders appeared very cordial throughout the press conference and Canada did not come up again.
Canada is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, which it joined in 1931 to mark its historic link to the United Kingdom. King Charles is the head of the commonwealth, which is composed of 56 countries.
Trump has eyed making Canada a part of the U.S., saying earlier this month that he loves the people of Canada and it would be “the greatest thing they could ever do” if they joined their neighbors.
He has repeatedly reiterated his desire to make Canada the 51st state, which is something Canadian leaders have repeatedly rejected as a possibility.
Earlier this month, Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to a 30-day pause in implementing 25 percent tariffs. The president confirmed Thursday that those tariffs are set to go into effect next week.
