Trump Making ‘Joke’ About Canada Becoming 51st State Is ‘Reassuring’: Ambassador Hillman
Adedokun Waliyu 
Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. insists it’s a good sign U.S. president-elect Donald Trump feels “comfortable” joking with Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau made a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago Friday — accompanied by a small Canadian delegation — to meet with Trump. The trip came just days after the incoming president threatened to implement 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico until the border countries stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the borders.
According to U.S. network Fox News, Trump joked during the meeting in Florida that if said tariffs debilitated the Canadian economy — as the prime minister conveyed to him — perhaps Canada should become the country’s 51st state.
Trump later posted what appears to be an artificially generated image depicting him standing on a mountaintop, with a large Canadian flag next to him, with the caption “Oh Canada!”
Kirsten Hillman — in an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Tuesday — said while she hadn’t seen the social media post, the gathering in Florida had “a really happy, joyous kind of atmosphere.”
“(Trump) made jokes, other people at the table made jokes,” Hillman said, who was part of the Canadian delegation to Mar-a-Lago, though she wasn’t seated at the same table as Trump and Trudeau during the three-hour dinner. “People were making jokes, which, actually, I have to say, I find to be reassuring that people are that comfortable with each other, that they’re teasing.”
“Any good joke always hits a little bit of a nerve, and certainly, president(-elect) Trump is one who likes to hit a nerve,” Hillman told host Vassy Kapelos. “So here’s what I would say to Canadians: let’s focus on the work that we have ahead of us and the work that has already started with the Trump administration.”
Hillman also highlighted the significance of Trudeau travelling to Florida for a meeting with Trump within days of the initial tariff threat.
“Let’s focus our attention where it should be, which is on the importance that this dialog is serious and it’s continuing, and not on the fact that the president(-elect) is enjoying this this joking moment,” she said.
