Trump wants to use “economic force” against Canada

(Ottawa) The question was asked directly. Donald Trump does not intend to use military force to annex Canada, but “economic force” does. He has been posting messages on social media for weeks to the effect that Canada should become 51^e American state.

“No, an economic force because Canada and the United States would really be something,” he replied to a journalist who asked him if he considered using the army to acquire Canada.

The president-elect of the United States gave a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Tuesday less than two weeks before his inauguration.

Earlier, he refused to rule out using force to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland, saying both were “very important to the economic security” of the United States.

“I can’t assure you about either one,” the president-designate said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago when asked about a possible use of the armed forces to annex the canal, a vital artery of global maritime transport, and the autonomous territory of Denmark, after having repeatedly stated that it wanted to acquire them.

The idea of ​​Canada’s economic integration with the United States was raised during the holiday season by Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary during an interview on Fox News. This one became known as “dragon” on the American show Shark Tank and its Canadian version Dragon’s Den.

He briefly aspired to become leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2017, joining the race that elected Andrew Scheer before stepping down two months later.

“This could be the start of an economic union,” he declared. Think about the power of combining the power of both economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all those resources right up to the northern borders, where China and Russia are knocking. »

He even offered to negotiate with the new American administration in place of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

With Agence France-Presse