Donald Trump drew blowback on social media Monday after he shared a report on his Truth Social platform about Canadian “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary’s wish to push forward with the idea of merging Canada with the United States.
The president-elect has in recent weeks hyped up the idea of Canada somehow becoming an American state and even repeatedly taunted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the title “governor” ― while also promising to hike tariffs on all imports from Canada when he returns to the White House in just three weeks.
The post shared by Trump said O’Leary ― who, as a businessman, has no power to negotiate anything on behalf of his country ― was planning to visit the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago home to “start the narrative” on a merger.
“Think about the power of combining the two economies,” it quoted O’Leary saying, citing ideas of a common currency, open trade and a European Union-style passport which, presumably, would allow freedom of movement for all holders between the two countries. Trump, though, is actually against the EU and vocally backed the United Kingdom’s 2016 Brexit vote to leave the union.
O’Leary told Fox News last week that there would be “massive” potential and a “huge” opportunity if America and Canada united.
“I think in this kernel of an idea and yes, maybe it was a joke to start, there is something great here to be done, because if you figured out a way to put these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country on Earth, the most powerful military on Earth, the most powerful resources, and no adversary anywhere would mess with it. That’s the prize,” he told the network.
A small sample of the criticism is below:
