What to know
- Donald Trump reportedly said he would not pursue taking over Canada, acknowledging the difficulty during an interview with Robert Hardman.
- The remarks came after a discussion about Canada’s ties to the monarchy, including King Charles III, and the country’s long-standing history and identity.
- Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of annexing Canada since 2024, making this a notable shift in tone.
- Canadians remain skeptical, with many calling the comments attention-seeking, while others say they’re relieved he appears to be backing down.
Canadians are sharing their reactions after the United States’ President Donald Trump said he is not going to invade Canada and acknowledged it’d be hard to do so, according to a Royal author.
Trump made the comments in an interview published by the Daily Mail with British Royal writer Robert Hardman, who is working on a biography of Queen Elizabeth II.
According to Hardman, during the interview, he told Trump to “please leave Canada alone,” saying that it could make King Charles III unhappy if he tried to invade the country.
To that, the president reportedly took a pause and then questioned whether Canada still recognizes the King, which Hardman confirmed.
Trump then complained about how the Canada-U.S. border is divided, but acknowledged that it would be difficult to take control of its northern neighbour.
“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 reportedly told Hardman.
“I suppose 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.”
Hardman said Trump also extensively complimented the King and late Queen Elizabeth, along with Prince William and Princess Kate.
Last year, King Charles III delivered the Throne Speech in Canada, during which he spoke about sovereignty and emphasized that “the True North is indeed strong and free.”
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Trump has made several comments about annexing Canada as the 51st state of the U.S. since 2024, which have sparked heated reactions from locals.
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Canadians react
Although Trump seemed to back down on the idea, many people in Toronto are still frustrated over the president questioning Canada’s sovereignty.
One Torontonian, Eli, said he believes the president only made the comments to “get attention.”
“He’s a buffoon. He doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s been trying to get attention for a long time, and found it from a lot of people that maybe aren’t as educated with everything else that’s going on in the world. I don’t have anything nice to say about him,” he told Now Toronto.
Another Torontonian, Robert Martinez, echoed the comments, saying he also believed the comments were just talk, but is happy to see Trump say he won’t be following through.
“That’s great. I guess that’s good news. Well, everyone kind of knew it was just all talk, right? But it’s good to have it confirmed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mark Johnson said as Trump has threatened the sovereignty of several countries since taking power, he is surprised he stepped back on the plan.
