Canadian journalist and author Stephen Marche mocked Americans Tuesday by claiming they could be “convinced of anything” after warning that President Donald Trump could lead the U.S. into a war with Canada.
Trump met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for the first time since Carney’s April 28 election on Tuesday. During the meeting at the White House, Carney brought up and dismissed Trump’s interest in Canada becoming a U.S. state, saying that the country won’t be for sale “ever.”
In response, Trump replied, “Never say never.”
Marche joined a panel on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports” to discuss the concerns over Trump’s rhetoric regarding Canada. Tur was particularly interested in Marche’s take in light of his Atlantic piece from Sunday warning that a war between the two nations was no longer inconceivable.
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“I think it’s surprising that we can have a conversation that is serious about what a war with Canada would look like,” Tur said. “Explain why it’s no longer unthinkable.”
“Well, because Donald Trump makes us think it, right?” Marche remarked. “I mean, he talks about annexing us on a regular basis. I mean, somewhere around 2% of the American population actually want to do this, but you know, at this point in its history, you know, the American people can obviously be convinced of anything, right?”
Marche went on to say there are a growing number of Republicans who view Canada as an enemy nation and that America is in a perilous situation that could affect surrounding nations.
“I think when countries are in constitutional crisis, and when their legal system starts to fall apart, as America’s legal system is falling apart, violence against neighboring countries is very common,” he added. “To me, it’s very intimately tied with this talk about being a third term president, right? That’s exactly out of the playbook of authoritarian governments around the world.”
“Canada really does need to think about protecting ourselves from the United States, and making sure that we’re not just a snack,” he said.
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Trump has frequently discussed acquiring countries like Canada and Greenland as U.S. territories. Last month, he told Time magazine correspondent Eric Cortellessa that he wasn’t “trolling” people with the idea and will continue to pursue it.
“We’re taking care of their military,” Trump told the magazine. “We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don’t want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.”
He was ambivalent over whether military force would be necessary to achieve it in a recent interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday.
“Well, I think we’re not going to ever get to that point,” Trump said. “It could happen.”
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