Canadian politician claims Trump admin's '51st state' rhetoric is an 'act of war'

A liberal Canadian member of Parliament claimed the Trump administration has committed an "act of war" over President Donald Trump repeatedly referring to Canada as the U.S.' "51st state" and for leveling tariffs on the nation. 

"Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war. When you rip up, arbitrarily, trade agreements and threaten and say you’re going to break a country, that’s an act of war. And Canadians have responded in kind," Canadian MP Charlie Angus, who is a member of the country's liberal New Democratic Party, said Monday during an interview with the MeidasTouch Network. 

Angus was reacting to a clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking with reporters during his recent trip to Canada for the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Rubio was repeatedly asked by the press to weigh in on Trump referring to Canada as the U.S.' "51st state." 

"The president has made his argument as to why he thinks Canada would be better off joining the United States… for economic purposes," Rubio said on March 14 when asked about Trump's "51st state" comments, explaining the issue was not addressed during the G7 meeting. "There’s a disagreement between the president’s position and the position of the Canadian government. I don’t think that’s a mystery coming in, and it wasn’t a topic of conversation, because that’s not what this summit was about."

Rubio further explained that the origin of the "51st state" rhetoric was born during a meeting between Trump and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump began using the "51st state" title for Canada in November 2024, following his election win. 

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Trump was meeting with Trudeau, "and Trudeau basically says that if the U.S. imposes tariffs on Canada, Canada couldn’t survive as a nation-state, at which point the president said, ‘Well, then you should become a state.’ And that’s where this began," Rubio recounted of the Trump–Trudeau meeting. "He made an argument for why Canada would be better off joining the United States from an economic perspective and the like. He’s made that argument repeatedly, and I think it stands for itself."

Trudeau announced his resignation as the country's prime minister in January after nine years in the position. Mark Carney was sworn-in as the nation's next prime minister on March 14 after he was elected the new leader of Canada's Liberal Party earlier in the month.  

During his interview, Angus said that Canada's boycott of U.S. products over tariffs leveled on the nation would be "punishing" to the U.S.

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"The boycott that Canada has launched against the United States is punishing. We were told in January a 10% drop in Canadian travel to the United States would cost 140,000 jobs," he continued. 

Trump leveled a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum from other nations on March 12, while Canada specifically is set to face a 25% tax on all imported goods beginning April 2. The tariffs have sparked boycotts of U.S. goods. 

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Trump joined Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, where he railed against how the U.S. has subsidized "Canada by $200 billion a year."

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"Here’s my problem with Canada," Trump said on Fox News. "Canada was meant to be the 51st state because we subsidize Canada by $200 billion a year. We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we have a lot of lumber. … We don’t need their energy, we don’t need anything, we certainly don’t want their automobiles… millions of automobiles are sent in, I’d rather have them made in Michigan, I’d rather have them made in South Carolina."

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.