Could Canada really become the 51st US state? NBC 6 South Florida [Video]

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Canada should be the 51st U.S. state as he proposes erasing the 5,525-mile-long border that separates the countries and alleviating the need for tariffs he’s threatened against one of America’s top allies and trading partners.

The traditional Lower 48 states would become the contiguous 50 as the Canadian territory between the U.S. mainland and Alaska disappears, leaving Hawaii as the only noncontinental state.

“If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100% certain that they’d become a state,” Trump said recently.

Canada at first reacted as though Trump must be joking, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowing that his country will never be the 51st state.” But Trudeau more recently suggested behind closed doors of Trump’s sustained annexation calls: “It is a real thing.”

But is it? Really?

Here’s a closer look:

Congress has to approve accepting a new state.

It takes only a House majority, but Senate filibuster rules require a minimum of …