Headline Roundup • March 31st, 2025
Is Canada Still a Close US Ally?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Between President Donald Trump's tariff war and his consistent threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st US state, those in Canada and the US are wondering if the two countries are still close allies.
The Details: A recent poll found 45% of Americans think Canada is a close ally, dropping 17 points from September 2023. Around 30% said Canada was “friendly” but not a close ally.
A Canadian Perspective: Outlets on the left—Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) and the Boston Globe (Left) were more likely to feature the Canadian perspective, framing Canadians as upset and angry that their sovereignty has been threatened. “I don’t understand it. Nobody does. I haven’t met one single person that has understood why this fight has been picked,” David Mitchell, the mayor of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, said. Canadian retailers have scrapped American products, and Canadians have canceled trips to America. The Wall Street Journal (Center) highlighted Canada's “elbows up” movement, based on hockey player Gordie Howe, which is becoming a rallying cry against Trump.
An American Perspective: A writer in the Washington Examiner (Lean Right) said that while annexing Canada would lead to political complications, it makes economic sense, saying, “The U.S. is sending subsidies to Canada as if it were already the 51st state. Canada can either make it official and join the U.S., or the U.S. should cut the subsidies.” Trump has noted, “Canada pays very little for defense… In NATO, they pay less than anybody else.” In Reason (Center), a writer suggested that annexing Canada is not a popular idea, but Canada is also in a poor place to defend itself. It should become a little more American by “build[ing] a national defense worthy of the name” if it wants to avoid invasion, the writer added.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
President Donald Trump isn't the first U.S. leader to contemplate annexing Canada, though he may be the first to take the idea seriously in a long time—if he is serious. The "51st state" comments and maps of a unified North America could be an elaborate joke with no obvious punchline. If it's a joke, Canadians aren't amused; they're upset and making plans to defend their country against a hostile takeover. Standing in the way, though, is their country's pathetic excuse for a military, and the severe restrictions, relative to the U.S., that Canada's government imposes on private weapons needed...
President Donald Trump repeated his desire to have Canada join the United States in an interview with Laura Ingraham on Tuesday.
“Canada was meant to be the 51st state,” he said. “We subsidize Canada by over $200 billion a year. We don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy, we don’t need anything. We certainly don’t want their automobiles. Millions of automobiles are sent in. I’d rather have them made in Michigan.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS
I thought they might be angry.
Over the past quarter century, I’ve spent big chunks of time in Canada — Montreal and Toronto on occasion, but mostly Vancouver and the South Shore of Nova Scotia. So I was curious how we would be greeted on a return trip this month after President Donald Trump’s twin assaults on Canada’s economy and sovereignty.
It turned out that everyone was nice. Also polite. No one seemed to hold us responsible for the actions of “the bad orange man,” as a waitress in Lunenburg called the U.S. president.
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