Canadian Leaders Want Trump to Stop 51st State Talk: ‘The Joke Is Over’ [Video]

Canadian leaders have indicated they would prefer President-elect Donald Trump ease up with his repeated suggestion that Canada should become the Unites States’ 51st state,

On Wednesday, Canada’s finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc, said that “the joke is over.”

Why It Matters

Trump has repeatedly suggested Canada and Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, could join the U.S. and said explicitly he wants Canada to become the 51st state.

The leaders of both Canada and Greenland have been dismissive of joining the U.S.

What To Know

LeBlanc, who is also the country’s point person for U.S-Canada relations, said on Wednesday that Trump’s remarks, initially brushed off as a joke, are now seen as an effort to undermine America’s closest ally.

“The joke is over. It’s a way for him, I think, to sow confusion, to agitate people, to create chaos knowing this will never happen. It’s becoming very counterproductive,” LeBlanc said of Trump’s rhetoric about Canada.