Justin Trudeau suffered an embarrassing hot-mic moment this week as he inadvertently revealed details of his conversations with Donald Trump about the future of Canada.
The outgoing Canadian Prime Minister told business leaders in a closed-door meeting that Trump’s threats to absorb Canada into the US are ‘a real thing’ and said they were intended to control the country’s mineral resources.
‘I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,’ Trudeau reportedly said.
‘They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.
‘But Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country. And it is a real thing.’
The remarks were reportedly spoken after Trudeau ushered media out of the room and were meant only to be heard by a group of business and labor leaders in a private meeting, but were mistakenly carried by a loudspeaker.
One of the leaders in the room, Gil McGowan, the president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed the remarks on X as he said Trump has been lying about his motivations for clamping down on Canada.
‘Yes, I can confirm that Trudeau said his assessment is that what Trump really wants is not action on fentanyl or immigration or even the trade deficit, what he really wants is to either dominate Canada or take it outright,’ McGowan wrote.
Justin Trudeau suffered an embarrassing hot-mic moment this week as he inadvertently revealed details of his conversations with Donald Trump about the future of Canada
Trudeau reportedly said Trump’s threats to absorb Canada into the US ‘is a real thing’, and said it was intended to control the country’s mineral resources
One of the leaders in the room, Gil McGowan, the president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed the remarks on X as he said Trump has been lying about his motivations for clamping down on Canada
Trudeau’s hot-mic moment only ended after he realized the error and ordered staff to turn off the loudspeaker, according to reports.
Although his remarks were reportedly not intended to be heard widely, Trudeau has made no secret of his opposition to Trump’s plans for Canada.
On Friday, Trudeau said in a speech that Canada must think ‘tactically and strategically’ about how to tackle Trump’s threats.
Trump has pledged to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada, as well as Mexico, as he ordered the border nations to take control of trafficking and illegal immigration into the US.
On Monday, Trump agreed to pause the tariffs by 30 days, and when asked about what Canada could do to make the tariff pause permanent, he replied: ‘I’d like to see Canada become our 51st State.’
Canadian Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the Daily Beast in response to Trudeau’s hot-mix slip up that he believes Trump’s tariffs are nothing more than a negotiation tactic.
‘They need us more than ever,’ he said.
Trump has pledged to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada, as well as Mexico, as he ordered the border nations to take control of trafficking and illegal immigration into the US
‘They understand, particularly the military guys, they are very worried about strategy in terms of being their partner, in terms of critical minerals, yeah.’
Champagne said Canada would not be changing its policies about control of critical mineral resources, and said if that is what Trump is truly focused on, it would provide ‘great leverage for Canada.’
‘Because the military folks understand that they cannot rebuild their industrial base, their defense, military industrial base, without Canada,’ he said.
Unifor President Lana Payne added after the meeting that she is ‘taking everything seriously right now because I have a lot of members whose jobs are at stake in this climate of chaos and instability.’
Trudeau dramatically announced his resignation last month in the wake of Trump’s election, with the threat of tariffs seen as having compounded his growing unpopularity in Canada.
One of those hoping to replace Trudeau, Ruby Dhalla, proclaimed herself to be ‘Canada’s female Donald Trump’, and has vowed to deport every illegal immigrant in the country if she is elected.
Ruby Dhalla, an ex-Canadian MP and self-described ‘Canada’s female Donald Trump’, has vowed to deport every illegal immigrant in the country if she is elected the nation’s next Prime Minister
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre will face off with Trudeau’s replacement in October, and polls show he is expected to comfortably come out on top
Dhalla is one of six candidates vying to become leader of Canada’s Liberal Party in March, with the winner becoming Prime Minister and taking the party into the general election in October.
Polling from Global News this month found Trudeau’s former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland is leading the race at 29 percent support, with former Bank of Canada and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney second at 17 percent.
Dhalla was not included in the poll taken at the start of the month, however separate polling from Abacus found Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would comfortably win an election held today with 43 percent support to the Liberals’ 22 percent.
While Trudeau’s replacement will become leader of Canada, whoever wins is widely expected to be beaten by conservative opposition leader Poilievre.
