Fact Check: Did Trump post about abandoning his interest in annexing Canada?
WASHINGTON, DC: A purported post by President Donald Trump has been going viral on social media platforms, indicating his renewed interest in annexing Canada as the 51st state of the United States. The claim has sparked speculations, with netizens questioning the authenticity of the claim. Let us analyze the post and fact-check it.
Claim: Donald Trump is not interested in annexing Canada
The claim surfaced in the form of a screenshot, showing a Truth Social post by the president.
The purported post read, “On second thought, after watching Canadians see their country getting much worse than under Trudeau and increasing their support for Carney, I'm no longer interested in having Canada as the 51st state."
"We don’t need that liberal cancer in America. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.-President Donald J. Trump.”
The image has circulated on various social media platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The post was shared by some users to mock Canadians they viewed as too focused on Trump. Others shared it to highlight what they saw as an ironic turnaround for the US president, who has often teased Canada about becoming part of the United States.
Fact Check: Fake, Donald Trump made no such post
However, the screenshot is fabricated, and Trump never made such a post, as keyword searches of live and archived versions of Trump's Truth Social account did not produce matching results.
Factba.se, which tracks the president’s public statements and social media activity, does not show any post like this in its records.
The fake post also appears to have originated as satire. One of the earliest versions of the fabricated screenshot, shared on Instagram on March 23, even included a caption acknowledging it was made up.
Donald Trump threatens Republicans over Canada tariffs
Last month, Trump threatened Republican lawmakers with political consequences for opposing his administration’s tariffs on US trading partners.
His warning came shortly after six House Republicans voted to repeal tariffs on Canada, signaling tensions within the party. Trump emphasized that Republicans who oppose his tariff policies could face repercussions in both primary and general elections.
Trump addressed the recent House vote on his tariffs in a Truth Social post last month, writing, “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!”
This statement followed the decision by six House Republicans to join Democrats in supporting a resolution to repeal the tariffs on Canada, a measure sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.