RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance delivers remarks in Brewer, Maine, on Aug. 24, 2026. —Anna Moneymaker—POOL/AFP/Getty Images
Vice President J.D. Vance on Monday called Canada a “state,” before claiming it was an accident.
“We have to remember, Canada is a state—sorry, Freudian slip,” Vance said during a political event in Maine, after being asked about the recent heated trade talks between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. “That was actually an accident.”
He went on to say that “Canada is a country that has underinvested in its military that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United States of America.”
Vance’s slip-up comes after President Donald Trump has hurled a number of barbs at Canada and its political leaders since he took office for a second term. The President has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state,” suggesting that the U.S. should annex its northern neighbor. In March, Trump called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the “future Governor of Canada.”
Carney has repeatedly and firmly pushed back on Trump’s comments; last year, the Canadian Prime Minister said of the suggestion of annexing Canada: “As I’ve said to anyone who’s raised this issue in private or in public, including the President, it will never happen.”
When TIME asked Trump last year whether he was “trolling a little bit” when he speaks about making Canada a U.S. state, Trump replied, “Actually, no, I’m not.”
Trump: ‘Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive’
In a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon, Trump continued to fling digs at Canada.
“America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer!” Trump said in his post. “The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada. Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival.”
Trump referred to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been a vocal critic of the tariffs that the Trump Administration has imposed or threatened to impose on Canadian goods. In addition to calling Ford Carney’s “Flunky,” Trump said the Premier was “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford,” a former mayor of Ontario’s capital, Toronto.
Tensions between the allied countries have escalated in recent days. Trump claimed earlier last week that, “subject to the finalization of documents,” the two nations had reached a deal, but trade negotiations between the two broke down on Friday, and both sides have pointed the finger at the other.
In a statement shared late on Friday, Carney said that “progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians” and so he “decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S.” He accused the U.S. of proposing “last-minute changes” that he called “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal."
On Monday, Trump said that he plans to raise automobile tariffs on Canada to 50% starting on Jan. 1, 2027. His 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of goods imported into the U.S. from Canada went into effect over the weekend, and Carney said that Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that will take effect on Sept. 8.
At a press conference on Monday, Carney said that Canada was still open to trade talks, but that any deal would have to “be one that respects Canada’s sovereignty.”
“When the Americans go to the negotiation table first with the right attitude towards our industries and a true partnership, of course we’ll come to the negotiating table,” he said.
“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States,” he continued, “that’s not something we’re going to accept.”
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