Trump drops 51st state idea over ties to King Charles and 'all that 'Oh, Canada' thing': royal biographer
Given his mercurial nature, it’s impossible to say that Donald Trump has entirely abandoned his wish to make Canada the 51st state, but it would appear that the U.S. president’s reverence for King Charles III — whom he was seemingly unaware is still Canada’s head of state — has tempered that desire.
“Do they still recognize the King? Or have they stopped that,” he asked royal biographer and author Robert Hardman, who interviewed the president about the monarchy for his latest book, Elizabeth II: In Private, In Public, set for release this week.
Hardman, who shared multiple excerpts from the book with the U.K. Daily Mail , said the topic came up in the late 2025 interview at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when the president asked the veteran journalist’s thoughts on the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
He said it was a bad idea that risked destroying NATO and pivoted to a request that he stop suggesting Canada, a staunch historical ally to the U.K. and “a gallant D-Day partner,” be annexed by the U.S.
“Attempting to acquire it would undoubtedly make the King of Canada unhappy,” he included, prompting Trump’s query about the nation’s sovereign rule.
Hardman said the president countered that Canada’s “terrible politicians” are friendly to his face, but cut him down behind his back and went on to repeat his false claim about the arbitrary establishment of the Canada-U.S. border.
“The problem is some guy drew that straight line to make a border. He should just have drawn it 50 miles further north and then there wouldn’t be a problem,” Trump said, according to Hardman.
He said that Trump accepted that his dream of Canada as the 51st state wasn’t feasible within a single presidential term.
“I suppose the Canadians have got 200 years of history and all that ‘Oh, Canada’ thing. You can’t deal with that in three-and-a-half years. I guess it’s not going to happen,” Trump reportedly contemplated.
“This was the closest I had heard to an acknowledgement that, as long as Canada had the King, Mr. Trump was not going to usurp him,” Hardman wrote.
Trump hasn’t publicly offered up a direct 51st state comment in some time, but he’s alluded to the notion.
In a Truth Social post about Asian Carp in the Great Lakes last month, Trump referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney as the “future Governor of Canada.” He’s made the jab at Carney seldom, but used it in reference to former prime minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly before he left office last year.
In January, he shared a doctored image showing a Western Hemisphere in which Canada — along with Greenland and Venezuela — covered by the American flag.
( @realDonaldTrump - Truth Social Post )
— Fan Donald J. Trump ???????? TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) January 20, 2026
( Donald J. Trump - Jan 20 2026, 12:58 AM ET ) pic.twitter.com/vLGWFTgl2j
While Buckingham Palace, on behalf of the Royal Family, has stated that Trump’s 51st state rhetoric is not something it would comment on, there have been subtle signs of support for Canada.
As reported by The Conversation , last March, amidst repeated Trump’s barbs, a week after meeting with Trudeau in the U.K. and after donning Canadian medals and honours at a British naval ceremony, the King and Queen Camilla planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Sandringham, the royal family’s private estate in Norfolk.
A few days later, he met with representatives from the Canadian Senate, presenting a ceremonial sword to Gregory Peters, the Usher of the Black Rod , one of the Senate’s chief protocol officers.
Then, of course, came the King and Queen’s much-heralded visit to Canada last May, where Charles delivered the first throne speech to make the opening of the 45th Parliament.
The speech ended with a standing ovation after he said: “As the anthem reminds us: The True North is indeed strong and free!”
As for U.S. state visits to the U.K. and vice versa, Trump conducted his interview with Hardman roughly three months after his visit to England last September, his second as president, a feat the writer said Trump was very proud of.
Charles and Camilla will make their first state visit to the U.S. at the end of April as part of America’s 250th anniversary. It’s the first such visit by a British monarch since 2007 when Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed by former president George W. Bush.
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed the dates, but Trump said on social media last week that they will be in the U.S. from April 27-30 and will be feted at a White House banquet dinner the day after arriving.
“I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect,” Trump wrote. “It will be TERRIFIC!”
The visit comes as the president and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have found themselves at odds over the Iran war. Trump has criticized his counterpart for not involving the U.K. and for not granting use of bases to the U.S. military.
Trump has consistently expressed admiration for the Royal Family over the years and he was particularly enamoured with Queen Elizabeth II.
“She has embodied the spirit of dignity, duty, and patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart,” he said during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace on his first visit in 2019.
After her death, he issued a statement in which he called her “a grand and beautiful lady.”
Trump’s been equally complimentary of her son in his thus far short reign, calling the King “a friend” and “an elegant gentleman,” as reported by Town and Country Magazine.
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