'It's done': Trump's 51st state comments are 'behind us,' says U.S. ambassador to Canada

OTTAWA — U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says the president has put the issue of Canada becoming a state “behind us.” Hoekstra says the meeting U.S. President Donald Trump held with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House earlier this week allowed both sides to move past some of the issues that have coloured the U.S.-Canada relationship over the past 90 days.  One of those has been Trump’s repeated comments that he would like Canada to become part of the U.S., referring to the country as the “51st state.” “It’s done,” the ambassador told National Post in his first-wide ranging interview in Canada since he was confirmed to the role last month.  “From my standpoint, from the president’s standpoint, 51st state’s not coming back,” he said. “The president may bring it up every once in a while, but he recognizes it’s not going to happen unless the prime minister engages with the president.” During their Oval Office meeting, Trump told reporters that discussions about Canada becoming a state were not on the agenda. He nonetheless repeated his desire for Canada to become a state when the issue was raised by press in the room. Trump, who referred to his background as a real estate developer, called the Canada-U.S. boundary an “artificially drawn line.” Carney responded by citing Trump’s understanding of real estate to say “there are some places that are never for sale.” Carney also pointed to the recent federal election campaign, where he met with thousands of voters, whom the prime minister called the “owners of Canada.” “It’s not for sale. Won’t be for sale ever.” Trump also said “never say never.” After the meetings between the two leaders, which included a private working lunch with senior members from both of their governments, Carney was also asked by reporters whether he had requested the president to stop making those comments. He answered “yes,” adding he has been consistent both in his public and private comments. On Thursday, Hoekstra pointed to the president’s remarks in the Oval Office to demonstrate how he believes the issue has been put to rest.  “The president clearly acknowledged it takes two to tango. That’s behind us. It was never a barrier to discussing these other issues,” the ambassador says.  “Now begins the framework.” While Canadian political and business leaders have celebrated this week’s meeting as a reset of the Canada-U.S. relationship, which grew strained under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Hoekstra, a former Michigan congressman and past chair of the House Intelligence Committee disagreed, saying there is a strong foundation that binds both countries.  “We are great friends. We have been great friends for such a long period of time. You’re not going to change those personal relationships. “Is it a little bit of: ‘OK, let’s get over what’s happened in the last 90 days?’ Yeah, we did that. But the relationship, from my perspective, and I think from the president’s perspective, was never in jeopardy.” With U.S. tariffs remaining in place on Canadian steel and aluminum as well as goods and auto parts not compliant with the free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Hoekstra acknowledged the countries’ economic relationship remains rocky.  He defended Trump’s approach as fulfilling campaign promises he made when he was re-elected last November and that when it comes to changing the U.S.’s relationship to trade, he took a global approach. Trump and his advisers have long argued tariffs were the way to attract more manufacturing to the U.S. Industry and business leaders across the U.S., as well as in Canada, have said this approach is flawed and pointed to how Trump’s tariffs have threatened jobs, caused stock markets to fall and unleashed global uncertainty that has chilled investments. “When you take a global approach, yes, Canada falls within that,” Hoekstra said. “Some of the people … have not liked that approach, but it is what the president campaigned on, and he’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do.” National Post staylor@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.