Canada to merge with US? Trump jokes about '51st US state' with Canadian PM Mark Carney - Watch

During a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Oval Office on Tuesday (Oct 7), United States President Donald Trump jokingly referred to Canada as the 51st state of America. He also joked about the possibility of a merger between the two countries, a remark that Carney received with laughter. Trump acknowledged that while the United States and Canada had experienced some natural conflicts, he believed they would likely resolve them. He praised Carney’s efforts in hosting international delegations and expressed appreciation for the job done. Both the leaders discussed various topics including the US-Canada relationship, including trade, Gaza, and Canada’s recent recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Mark Carney meets Donald Trump

Carney during his second visit to the White House this year praised the US President calling him a “transformative president" for bringing “peace” between India and Pakistan, and other conflicting nations. “You are a transformative president… the transformation in the economy, unprecedented commitments of NATO partners to defence spending, peace from India, Pakistan through to Azerbaijan, Armenia, disabling Iran as the force of terror,” Carney said during bilateral talks with Trump in the Oval Office, as Trump nodded. This comes a day after Trump claimed that he played a key role in ending the military conflict between India and Pakistan by using trade threats. Claiming that it was his aggressive tariff strategy pushed two nuclear-armed nations toward a ceasefire during a period of heightened conflict earlier this year, Trump said that he is the global peacemaker. The visit by the Canadian leader, who was repeatedly touted as a “great leader” by Trump, marked his second visit to the White House since taking office in April.