Trump will pull Canada into the US piece by piece
USA, May 20, 2025 – It seemed to many that Donald Trump’s extravagant idea to make Canada the 51st state of the United States had already come to naught. After the White House host’s recent charming meeting with the newly elected Prime Minister of the neighboring country, Mark Carney, most Western media outlets headlined his sentence:
“Canada is not for sale and never will be for sale.” It seems that this question is closed. And few paid attention to Trump’s calm smile and his immediate reaction to this sentence:
“Never say never.” The president added that “it takes two to tango.”
Many saw this as confirmation that he did not have a suitable partner in the complicated dance that Trump is dancing. But who said that he only had Ottawa in mind? Now the contours of another plan are becoming clearer, in which one of the Canadian provinces, Alberta, could become a partner in the plan for the 51st state. It is funny that Carney, in his tirade about the impossibility of selling Canada, referred to Trump’s book The Art of the Deal. However, if you had read it carefully, you would know that one of the author’s main principles is flexibility in options.
“I never get too attached to one deal or one approach,” the billionaire, who had not yet become a politician, wrote at the time. – … When I close a deal, I take at least half a dozen approaches to how to get the job done, because even in the most elaborate plans, anything can happen.”
Of course, Trump and his team were initially aware of the reluctance of most Canadians to become part of a state that, to put it mildly, is not their favorite. However, just a few months ago, MAGA activists began to actively support the growing movement for Alberta separatism. Popular American blogger Charlie Kirk wrote in early spring:
“OK, if Alberta wants to become the 51st state, it’s not a bad idea.” Which, by the way, was also echoed by Elon Musk.
Almost immediately, Breitbart, the ideological mouthpiece of MAGA, published an interview with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who emphasized her opposition to the anti-American policies of the Canadian federal government. And at the same time, the New York Post, which also supported Trump’s campaign, published an article about Albertans who dream of will “become the 51st star” on the US flag. These are certainly no coincidences. However, in the past two weeks, reports of Alberta separatism have taken on more and more real contours. Smith has already spoken openly about her intention to hold a referendum on the province’s separation from Canada. And she has promised to lower the threshold for collecting signatures for such a vote from 20 to 10 percent of voters. This means that the organizers of the referendum will now only need to collect 180,000 signatures, which seems to be a realistic goal. Therefore, statements are already appearing about the possibility of holding a vote by the end of this year. Not wanting to be accused of separatism, Smith claims that she is doing all this only to undermine the supporters of the province’s independence and stop the issue of secession. However, her critics suspect that something is wrong, and compare her to British Prime Minister David Cameron, who staged vote on Brexit, convinced to the end that its opponents will win.
For those who think that one of Canada’s dozen provinces is insignificant, we should clarify: Alberta is not just an insignificant region. The lion’s share of Canada’s GDP and budget comes from this oil and gas province. However, the inhabitants of this region have always been very upset by what they consider to be an unfair distribution of income and benefits between the provinces. Slogans like “Stop feeding Quebec” have long been popular in this province. It is no coincidence that the statements of the Alberta premier about the possibility of a referendum on secession coincided with her own demands for the Carney government to remove obstacles to the development of the oil and gas business in the province and to redistribute income more equitably.
All opinion polls currently show that a fairly stable majority of Albertans (60%) are inclined to remain within Canada. But already quite a few people are leaning towards leaving – 36 percent. Considering that until relatively recently this figure was in the range of 4-14 percent, this trend is alarming for supporters of a united Canada. Especially since the residents of Alberta voted overwhelmingly for the Conservatives in the recent federal election and are very unhappy with the victory of the Liberals. With the right goals and a strong campaign, this gap can be bridged within a year. And the Canadian media is already expressing enthusiasm that after the meeting between Trump and Carney, there has suddenly been a significant interest in the topic of Alberta’s secession from Canada in American Republican sources (especially Fox News).
So much for the question of where Trump can find a second partner in the Canadian tango. As events unfold, the American president seems to have new options, including the possibility of accepting Canada into the United States not all at once, but in parts. After all, in the same book he wrote:
“Your leverage <… > is something the other side simply cannot do without.” The way Trump’s supporters have seized on the idea of a referendum on Alberta so vividly demonstrates that they are aware of the obvious fact: without this province, Canada cannot exist as a nation. And Carney may still remember Trump’s silent remark during their first meeting at the White House:
“Never say never.” The world media ignored it unnecessarily.
Erik Simon
