An idea formulated by Donald Trump that has very little chance of success

The possibilities of a union between the USA and Canada and its historical antecedents

Esp 1·07·2025 · 7:01 0

Justin Trudeau's resignation as Prime Minister of Canada has given way to a curious statement from Donald Trump about that country.

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Trump defends the union by appealing to the economy and security

On his Truth Social account, the winner of the US presidential election insisted on an idea that he had previously only half-jokingly proposed, but which he now seems to take more seriously:

"Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned. If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!"

The future tenant of the White House seems not to be satisfied with Canada. Recently, Trump also expressed his desire to incorporate Greenland, a very large territory that currently belongs to Denmark, a country that does not seem willing to give it up.

To be honest, I think that the annexation of Greenland to the US would have a better chance than the union between the US and Canada. After all, Greenland is a territory that is very dependent on Denmark and has a very small population (less than 57,000 inhabitants). In contrast, Canada is a large country with 41 million inhabitants and a past that precisely shows considerable fundamental differences with the US.

The war conflicts between Canada and the USA

These differences have their origin in an event that occurred in 1776. When the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States declared their independence from the British crown, the British colonies of Canada remained loyal to the United Kingdom. In fact, many loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies (the Americans who opposed independence) emigrated to Canada after that war. Even the situation of French-speaking Catholics had been appeased in 1774 by the Quebec Act, which granted them the freedom to speak their language, profess their religion and apply Roman law instead of Anglo-Saxon law.

The differences continued in the following years and in a violent way: The USA and Canada were involved in several armed conflicts, the worst of which was the War of 1812, when tensions between the United Kingdom and the USA (especially the forced enlistment of American sailors by the British) led to an invasion of Canada by the USA, which was repelled by British troops and militias formed by Canadians.

In the Patriot War of 1838, Canada and the United States fought together against republican rebels and Canadian hunters' lodges who, paradoxically, wanted to follow in the footsteps of the independence of the United States. However, that same year border disputes arose between Maine (USA) and New Brunswick (Canada), a conflict known as the Aroostook War in which both countries mobilized their armies without bloodshed.

Both countries were on the verge of starting a war over a pig

Border tensions between the US and Canada continued to such an extent that in 1859 both countries were on the verge of unleashing a new war over a pig owned by farmer Lyman Cutlar (from the US) that was eating potatoes on San Juan Island, located in the Strait of Georgia, between Washington (USA) and British Columbia (Canada). Both countries mobilized their armies, but again there was no bloodshed. The dispute over the island did not cease until 1872, when both countries accepted an arbitration by the German Empire that finally determined that the territory belonged to the US.

The Fenian Raids and the consolidation of Canada's national identity

Much more serious were the so-called Fenian Raids (1866-1871), initiated by Irish veterans of the American Civil War, organized in the Fenian Brotherhood, who began to launch attacks against Canada from Minnesota, USA, to pressure the British crown and obtain Irish independence, seeking to obtain the support of Irish immigrants in Canada. Paradoxically, these raids had no effect in Ireland but served to consolidate the national identity of Canadians, including many Catholics who viewed with suspicion the militant anti-Catholicism of many Puritans in the USA.

More than a century fighting as allies in different wars

Despite these conflicts, the US and Canada have been fighting as allies for over a century. They did so in World War I (1914–1918), in the foreign military intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1920), in World War II (1939–1945), in the Korean War (1950–1953), in the Gulf War (1990–1991), in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014), and in the international interventions in Somalia (1992–1995), the former Yugoslavia (1992–1995), Kosovo (1998–1999), East Timor (1999–2000), Libya (2011), Iraq (2013–2017), the war against ISIS (since 2014) and the Red Sea crisis (since 2023).

Both the US and Canada were founding countries of NATO in 1949. Even before its creation, the US and Canada established a Permanent Joint Defence Board in 1940 to address their defence issues bilaterally. In 1958, Canada and the US founded the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), based in Colorado Springs (USA) and jointly responsible for the aerospace defence of North America. In 1987, both countries signed the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), which Mexico joined in 1994, giving rise to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

A republic and a monarchy linked to the United Kingdom

Despite its current close ties, Canada remains a constitutional monarchy, with the King of England as its head of state, represented in that country by a governor general, which is the same type of relationship that the United Kingdom has with Australia and New Zealand. Today, Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, whose head is King Charles III of England. That link would be lost with the union of the two countries, since the United States is a republic and has never belonged to the Commonwealth of Nations, although it maintains good relations with the member countries of that organization.

Canadians still have close historical ties with Britain, which are also reflected in the names of two of their armed forces: the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy (in the same tradition as in the United Kingdom, the Canadian Army does not have the title "royal", but many of its units do).

Canada's minority annexationist movements

These antecedents, as well as their national spirit, make Canadians reluctant to join the United States, with exceptions such as the Eastern Townships of Quebec in the 19th century, with a largely American population, or the Economic Union Party (EUP), which proposed a customs union with the United States in view of the referendum on the Dominion of Newfoundland (until then a British colony) in 1948, after the United Kingdom vetoed the possibility of Newfoundland even being able to join the United States among the different options in that referendum. In Canada there have also been very minor and ephemeral annexationist movements, such as the Unionest Party of Saskatchewan (1980-1982) and Parti 51 of Quebec (1989-1990 and 2016-2024).

The two surveys carried out on the union in 2001 and 2004

There were two polls on the issue of Canadian annexation by the US in the first decade of this century. In 2001, a Leger Marketing survey found that annexation was overwhelmingly opposed, with 76.5% in favour of maintaining Canada's independence and only 19.9% ​​in favour of union with the US. Significantly, 33.9% of those in favour of annexation were from Quebec, but even in this francophone province, annexation was overwhelmingly opposed. In this same survey, Canadians also rejected a common currency with the United States and Mexico, an idea supported by 39.9% in Canada, but which in Quebec did have majority support: 53.5%.

In 2004, Leger Marketing conducted a second survey in both countries. Significantly, 92% of Canadians and 70% of Americans were opposed to the union, an opinion supported by only 7% in Canada and 19% in the US. The survey also found that 66% of Canadians thought the US had benefited from the North American Free Trade Agreement, compared with only 17% who thought Canada had benefited. To top it off, in this survey, 68% of Canadians perceived themselves as different from Americans (87% in the case of the French-speaking province of Quebec), while 61% of Americans supported that they are the same as Canadians.

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