# Trump claims Canadians want to be the 51 US state. Canadian dopers any thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 8, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730 "2025-01-08T17:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/101 "2025-01-09T18:44:39Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yeah, we’d get out-nuked faster than you can say Thurl Ravenscroft. Not even “might” qualifies here. It’s not really a question of who can nuke who more. Any nukes act as a deterrent. Sure, if nukes actually start flying, we’ll lose, but we’ll also lose if conventional weapons start flying. The whole point is to make even Trump stop and think: Which 10 US cities are worth losing, in order to conquer and/or annihilate Canada? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/102 "2025-01-09T18:57:24Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yeah, we’d get out-nuked faster than you can say Thurl Ravenscroft. Not even “might” qualifies here. Trump is a bully who backs down when confronted with another alpha male. But a nuclear program is wrong for Canada. It would take too long, be too expensive, and require rejecting nonproliferation principles Canada rightly supports. If I was Canadian, my favorite alpha move might be conscription. Four months of military training, combined with some sort of reserve obligation, should do if combined with a few [we shall never surrender](https://ndla.no/r/engelsk-2/we-shall-fight-them-on-the-beaches-by-winston-churchill/c13b8289bb#) speeches. Would four months be too short for actual war fighting? Maybe. But the uncertainty would be enough to deter the bully. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/103 "2025-01-09T19:12:47Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Trump is a bully who backs down when confronted with another alpha male. Or even a small statured but confident woman: > **[Angela Merkel Asked President Trump to Shake Hands. He Appeared to Ignore Her](https://time.com/4705483/president-trump-angela-merkel-handshake/)** > > Merkel appears to quietly ask Trump, "do you want to have a handshake?" Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/104 "2025-01-09T19:26:22Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How easy will it be for Trump to get America frothing in the teeth against Canada? Easy, it’s been the target of decades of propaganda over how liberal and leftist it is, which makes it _literally_ Satanic in the eyes of his followers. He just needs to take advantage of that preexisting decades of effort. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/105 "2025-01-09T20:24:33Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > If I was Canadian, my favorite alpha move might be conscription. Four months of military training, combined with some sort of reserve obligation, should do if combined with a few [we shall never surrender](https://ndla.no/r/engelsk-2/we-shall-fight-them-on-the-beaches-by-winston-churchill/c13b8289bb#) speeches. First of all, Trump is not going to invade Canada. Never. Not just because he’s a spineless bully, but because it wouldn’t help him in any way. He’ll talk like an idiot about it, sure. But that’s all it will ever be. Second, conscription as a political statement is just wrong in a free society (or any society, actually). Carter’s major black mark was reinstating Selective Service registration to send a message to the USSR about Afghanistan. (which didn’t work, by the way). ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/106 "2025-01-09T21:17:42Z")
If the US and Canada did combine it would be interesting in many ways. For one, the leftward swing in the nation’s politics would be immense. If each province was a state with 2 senators I’m not sure how the GOP would ever get the senate back. We’d probably have a president Trudeau in a decade or so. Wouldn’t that be ironic? ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/107 "2025-01-09T21:38:05Z")
So as regards those pointing out that adding Canada would result in a leftward pull in the US, maybe we should support this. Come on Canadian Dopers, just this one favor, please? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/108 "2025-01-09T21:54:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > First of all, Trump is not going to invade Canada. Never. It probably won’t be him; it’ll be the dictator _after_ him. Trump will go after Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/109 "2025-01-09T22:57:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How easy will it be for Trump to get America frothing in the teeth against Canada? > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Just have Fox News drone endlessly on every program Having their primetime host say this to the Premier of Ontario gets the ball rolling (from Northern\_Piper’s link above): “Because if I were a citizen of another country and I was a neighbour of the United States, I would consider it a privilege to be taken over by the United States of America.” Just shoot that America Only bullshit right into their veins. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/110 "2025-01-09T23:02:17Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yet to mosey by Danielle Smith’s Alberta as of late? I live in Alberta. It’s nowhere near as right-wing/Trumpian as other Canadians, and many Americans, think. Very unscientific, admittedly, but none of my friends or acquaintances think Trump is anything other than a buffoon. And Smith’s popularity is not as great as you might think—it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the NDP would win the recent West Lethbridge by-election. The demographics of Alberta have changed over the last twenty years. Many of today’s Albertans are not originally from here; they have come from other provinces or from outside Canada, and they don’t have that old-time Alberta attitude. They really don’t give two hoots about religion, and they couldn’t tell you who Bible Bill Aberhart was, or why he was significant in Alberta’s history. True, there is an intense dislike for anybody named Trudeau, but it does make you wonder what Alberta might have done in the last few elections if the Liberals had selected another leader whose name was not Trudeau. But to imply that Albertans somehow love Trump and Smith is doing many, if not most Albertans a disservice. We’re not all anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, conservative rednecks who live for guns, God, and giant pickup trucks; no matter what impression Smith tries to project. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/111 "2025-01-09T23:32:16Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I live in Alberta. It’s nowhere near as right-wing/Trumpian as other Canadians, and many Americans, think. Thank-you for your post. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/112 "2025-01-09T23:54:47Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > First of all, Trump is not going to invade Canada. Never. Not just because he’s a spineless bully, but because it wouldn’t help him in any way. It wouldn’t help him now because he doesn’t need to show his base that he’s a real strongman. He’ll only have that need if he’s shown weakness by letting Russia overrun Ukraine. A sign that Canadians actually have to worry is the firing or resignation of [Keith Kellogg](https://kyivindependent.com/trump-wants-to-end-war-in-100-days-incoming-peace-envoy-tells-fox-news/), Trump’s Ukraine peace envoy. Kellogg, who pledges to maintain Ukraine’s national existence, is the kind of retired general who, in Trump 45, argued Donald out of his worst ideas. Putin will probably ask to negotiate with Trump — without Kellogg present. If Trump does this, it will be worst for Europe, but, also, watch out Ottawa. P.S. And no U.S. progressive, or liberal, or centrist should see Trump’s imperialist Canadian dreams as in the least, in any way, possibly good. The idea of Republicans letting in Canada as a state is preposterous. A Canada captured by American imperialists would be a vassal. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/113 "2025-01-10T01:25:20Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yeah, we’d get out-nuked faster than you can say Thurl Ravenscroft. Not even “might” qualifies here. I loved that man’s voice. And I got nine points in the DeathPool for him when he died. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/114 "2025-01-10T01:25:46Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Jesse Watters is a brainless prat, too stupid to even be an effective troll. Jeff Tiedrich calls him a “found object on Fox.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/115 "2025-01-10T04:00:56Z")
We already burned down the White House once, back in 1812. How about make the US the eleventh province instead? Us Canadians, we’re bigger and we’re on top. If this was prison, the United States would be our bitch. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/116 "2025-01-10T07:13:10Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > We already burned down the White House once, back in 1812. British troops did that, but hey, they were on our side of the war, I guess! ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/117 "2025-01-10T13:38:10Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > If the US and Canada did combine it would be interesting in many ways. For one, the leftward swing in the nation’s politics would be immense. Based on recent US election results, there’s another interesting way to look at the combination (USAC is what I’d call it): 1. Average IQ of USAC would be lower than the average IQ of Canada. 2. Average IQ of USAC would be higher than the average IQ of USA. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/118 "2025-01-10T13:57:32Z")
I am not Canadian, but most of my extended family is. Many of them don’t want Canada to become part of the US but they are hoping that bullying and threats from the US will make Canadian politics and policy more in line with US ones. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/119 "2025-01-10T14:10:00Z")
Any policy specifics they’ve mentioned to you? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730/120 "2025-01-10T14:22:01Z")
This is only helpful when the American policies are worth emulating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-claims-canadians-want-to-be-the-51-us-state-canadian-dopers-any-thoughts/1012730.md?page=7)