Canada's outgoing PM Trudeau says not 'a snowball's chance in hell' his country will merge with US

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jan 7 hit back at US President-elect Donald Trump's threat to use "economic force" to absorb Canada into the United States, saying there is no possibility of merging countries.

"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," Trudeau wrote on X.

"Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partner," he added.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly also added to PM Trudeau's remark, saying the country will "never back down" from threats by Trump.

Joly accused Trump of showing with his remarks "a complete lack of understanding" of Canada.

"Our economy is strong. Our people our strong. We will never back down in the face of threats," she said on the social media platform owned by Trump ally Elon Musk.

Canada's response came after incoming US president Trump said he was willing to use "economic force" to merge Canada and the United States, hours after the Canadian premier announced his resignation as the leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister.

Speaking at a press conference at Florida Mar-a Lago home, he said, "You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security."

"Canada and the United States, that would really be something," Trump added.

He also raised concerns about Canada's military spending and said, "They have a very small military. They rely on our military. It's all fine, but, you know, they got to pay for that. It's very unfair."

Asked if he would use military force to bring Canada to heel, the incoming president said "no, economic force."

Since his election victory in November, Trump has repeatedly needled Canada about it becoming the "51st US state".

Previously, he has threatened to slap up to 25 % tariff on Canadian goods unless the northern American country took substantial steps to increase security on the shared border and reduce drugs and illegal immigrants crossing into the US.

In response, the Trudeau government has promised to implement strict security measures along the US-Canada border but said it would consider imposing counter-tariffs if Trump follows with his threats.

Canada and the US reportedly share a trillion-dollar trade relationship. According to the Canadian government's data, nearly C$3.6bn ($2.5bn) worth of goods and services crossed the border daily in 2023.