QUESTION: I know you have said you disagree with the whole tariff war. I believe you also said when you were here in Calgary, there was no way even Alberta could or should become the 51st state. Would you comment on this latest post of Trump draping the American flag over all of North America?
EP
ANSWER: This whole 51st state nonsense is just unrealistic. If Alberta became the 51st State, it would disrupt politics for then they would get two senators and untold congressmen. The Democrats would demand Puerto Rico and Guam be allowed to become states along with Washington DC. If somehow all of Canada and Mexico became part of the United States, who knows what that would disrupt politically. I suspect it might benefit the Democrats more than the Republicans. I couldn’t threaten to flee to Aruba anymore.
So, is Trump just poking fun at Carney? If he spoke to the State Department, they would surely be screaming are you insane! I’m not sure this could be serious even on Trump’s part. The process for a territory to become a state is established by the U.S. Constitution and granted specifically to Congress, not the president.
The specific authority is found in Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. This section is often referred to as the “Admissions Clause” and states that “no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State…without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
Therefore, Trump I believe is having fun and he has to know that his meme is absolutely impossible. It seems to be more of a dig at Carney, but it was Trump’s rhetoric of making Canada the 51st State that got Carney elected in the first place. This tariff war is absurd and there is NO RESOLUTION that will benefit both sides anymore. We do not know the demands that actually broke the deal since both sides point at the other. I can say that Carney’s claim that the deal would restrict Canada’s sovereignty by limiting its ability to strike trade deals with other countries is really dodgy. That is the #1 way people circumvent tariffs and trade restrictions. You cut off trade with a given country so they cut a deal with Canada and the products appear to then be Canadian. Mexico now imports more to USA than China on this type of arrangement.
Chinese companies have been setting up plants in Mexico, and this strategy is widely seen as a way to circumvent U.S. trade barriers. Mexico’s location and its trade agreement with the U.S. make it an attractive “nearshoring” destination for Chinese manufacturers. I helped Japan to reduce its trade surplus buying gold in NYC, exporting to London to resell and this revolving door worked.
If Carney really killed the deal claiming this impeded on Canada’s sovereignty, I cannot believe he really believed that when in fact that is the #1 way to circumvent trade issues used by everyone.
If we examine the numbers, Canada did have a trade deficit in 2025. The data shows that its merchandise trade deficit widened significantly over the course of the year. For 2025, the annual merchandise trade deficit was C$31.3 billion. This was the largest annual shortfall since 2020 and a substantial increase from the C$7.2 billion deficit recorded in 2024. Focusing on just the USA & Canada, in U.S. dollar terms, Canada had a trade surplus with the USA in 2025 of about $50 billion. This implies that others are importing goods into Canda creating their trade deficit overall, but are then selling then to the USA creating the trade surplus with the USA.
Chinese-made goods are shipped to Canada, relabeled as Canadian, and exported to the United States without sufficient processing to change their country of origin. This is customs fraud if it is done to evade U.S. tariffs. U.S. and Canadian authorities have both acknowledged that this occurs, although its overall scale is difficult to measure. Recently, U.S. officials have stepped up scrutiny of alleged transshipment. The White House has claimed that rerouting goods through third countries—including Canada—is costing billions of dollars in lost tariff revenue, and U.S. Customs has increased enforcement efforts using AI and other investigative tools.
Carney may think he is defending Canada on this issue, but an all out trade war with the USA will also reduced the imports from other countries to circumvent trade restrictions. This is part of the problem.
Trump’s taunting Canada as the 51st State does not help matters when it is impossible anyway. Then there is the very issue of tariffs and jobs. This is a Marxist philosophy but overpaying people to keep jobs means the people are subsidizing jobs overpaying workers who should get another job. You do NOT grow a head of lettuce in the Saudi desert importing water and top soil so the cost is $10 a head when you can buy it from someone else for 50 cents. You do NOT make American Great Again by bringing back overpaid jobs.
Detroit destroyed its auto industry like Mandami assuming they had endless revenues that they could tax. Not one auto manufacturer was left by 1937 in Detroit. They did not leave because of cheaper labor. They left because of taxes. Detroit was bankrupt by 1937. They did not honor their debts until 1963 paying back with cheaper dollars.
NYC was once the largest port in the USA. Between taxes, regulation, and corrupt unions, they chased everyone out to other ports. Until we look at the REAL reasons manufacture left, you cannot bring these back to America and they are exploited by progressives like Mandami. JP Morgan now employs more people outside of NYC and the financial Wall Street is abandoning NYC all because of Mandami. NYC will be a shadow of itself by 2030. Any company looking to return MUST go to states with no income taxes.
Texas has a Franchise tax (a privilege tax measured by “margin”) Tax Rate 0.375% for retail/wholesale; 0.75% for most other businesses while Florida has a Corporate income tax 5.5% on net income. In Texas, the Tax Base Taxable margin (based on revenue, not just profit) whereas Florida has a Net income (profit) tax.
Looking at the Exemption/Threshold, in Texas no tax is due if total revenue is at or below $2.65 million. In Florida that is a $50,000 exemption on net income. This is why Texas is the #1 place to go for Wall Street and corporations. The Democrats screwed Florida corporately. They will NEVER learn!!!!!
