President Trump said he would talk to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about making Canada the 51st state. But the president said he didn’t expect it to get to the point of using military force — though he wouldn’t commit to the same for Greenland.
“Something could happen with Greenland, I’ll be honest,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that aired on Sunday. He said that “we need that for national and international security,” but he added “I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly vowed to secure U.S. control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, while also threatening to make Canada the 51st state. And last week, the president’s territorial threats against Canada, coupled with his tariffs, appeared to play a part in a major political turnaround for Canada’s Liberal Party in the federal elections.
The president spoke with Carney following his victory, but the men said they didn’t talk about making Canada the 51st state. Still, when asked whether he would do so when the leaders next speak, Mr. Trump said “I’ll always talk about that.”
Andrew Harnik / Getty Images 
Mr. Trump outlined his reasoning, claiming “we subsidize Canada to the tune of $200 billion a year” and arguing that “we don’t need anything that they have.” He said “if Canada was a state, it wouldn’t cost us.”
The president said it would be a “cherished state,” while urging that North America would be “beautiful” without the U.S.-Canadian border running through it.
“When I look down at that, without that artificial line that was drawn with a ruler many years ago — it was just an artificial line, it goes straight across — you don’t even realize what a beautiful country it would be,” Mr. Trump said. “It would be great.”
As for Greenland, the president said when asked to clarify whether he would rule out using military force on the territory that “I don’t rule it out, I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything, no — not there.”
“We need Greenland very badly,” he added. “Greenland is a very small amount of people we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them and all of that, but we need that for international security.”
Located between the U.S., Russia and Europe, Greenland is viewed as a strategic position for both economic and defense purposes, with melting sea ice opening up new shipping routes through the Arctic. Greenland’s prime minister has pushed back sharply against Mr. Trump’s threats, saying in March that “we are not for sale and cannot simply be taken.”
In the wide-ranging hourlong interview with “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump waffled on whether the thinks he needs to “uphold the Constitution.”
“I don’t know. I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what Supreme Court said,” Mr. Trump said regarding due process for immigrants sent to a prison in El Salvador.
