Trump's 51st-state idea for Canada isn't going over well
He's not the first to underestimate the 'True North'
“The acquisition of Canada this year,” former President Thomas Jefferson wrote to a newspaper editor, “will be a mere matter of marching.”
Jefferson wrote those words in April, 1812, two months before U.S. President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Britain. America was taking military action over grievances such as Britain’s bullying tactics on the high seas, and U.S. leaders saw Canada’s vast and lightly defended territory as ripe for the taking.
Jefferson was disastrously wrong, as events on the battlefield would soon show.
He wasn’t the last American president to underestimate our northern neighbor. But President Donald Trump’s constant call for annexing Canada as the 51st state deserves to be ranked with Jefferson’s comment for its cluelessness.
Flags flying
Trump said, “I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen. Why are we paying $2…
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