LA MALBAIE, Quebec — As G7 foreign ministers enjoyed Canadian hospitality in a five-star hotel in rural Quebec, their Canadian host sounded frustrated.
The topic: President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to his northern neighbor’s sovereignty.
“I think many of my colleagues coming here thought that this issue is still a joke, and that this had to be taken in a humorous way. But I said to them, this is not a joke,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday. “Canadians are anxious. Canadians are proud people. And you are here in a sovereign country.”
The previous day, Trump had said Canada “only works as a state” — the latest in a long string of his comments about annexing Canada as the U.S.’ “51st state.”
While Canadian sovereignty isn’t an official topic of discussion at the G7, it was an issue impossible for members to avoid amid Trump’s provocations and Joly’s insistence that her counterparts take the matter seriously. She also offered stern words for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “What I said to the secretary is Canada’s sovereignty is not up to debate, period,” she said. “You’re here, you respect us, you respect our sovereignty, you’re in our country, you respect our people. Period.”
Rubio acknowledged the conflict but attempted to sidestep it.
“There’s a disagreement between the president’s position and the position of the Canadian government,” Rubio said following the meetings. “I don’t think that’s a mystery coming in, and it wasn’t a topic of conversation because that’s not what this summit was about.”
The back-and-forth forced some other nations to respond. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters it was “not my job” to comment on the president’s remarks: “For me, Canada will be Canada.”
Asked whether Trump’s rhetoric about a close ally shocked him, Tajani demurred: “We are working hard all together. The most important message today is the unity of the G7.”
At a midday press conference, German Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock did not directly condemn Trump’s threats — but she did reinforce Canada’s sovereignty.
“Borders are inviolable in Ukraine, in Greenland, in Panama, in Canada, anywhere in the world,” Baerbock said in German.
Trump frequently alludes to his interest in annexing Denmark’s autonomous territory in the Arctic and taking control of the Panama Canal.
“Canada’s unity inspires us. We Europeans, we Germans, and Canada are not only partners,” she said. “We are close friends. And friends have each other’s back. Always.”
Asked about Trump’s annexation talk by CBC News, U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy said: “This is not a time to sow unnecessary division.”
Following his swearing-in ceremony as Canada’s new prime minister on Friday, Mark Carney dismissed Canada’s need for reassurance from abroad. “We don’t need to hear it from [our allies], we’re in charge,” he said. “It’s always nice when people say nice things about you, but we don’t need it. We’re not seeking it.”
The Canadians initially took the annexation talk as a joke, but have long since stopped laughing. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has insisted the president is serious.
When Trump’s punishing U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods came into effect on March 4, Trudeau reiterated his view of the president’s goal.
“What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that’ll make it easier to annex us, is the second half of his thought,” Trudeau said. “Now, first of all, that’s never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state.”
Carney is widely expected to call an election in the coming days, pitting him against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — the favorite to win, but with a narrowing lead in the polls. Liberals have launched ads that paint Poilievre as a Canadian version of Trump.
But the president hasn’t had kind words for the Canadian Conservative. “I think [Poilievre’s] biggest problem is he’s not a MAGA guy. He’s really not. He’s not a Trump guy at all,” Trump recently said in an interview with The Spectator.
“Mr. President, it is true. I am not MAGA,” Poilievre replied on social media. “I am for Canada First. Always.”
