Republican senator says Trump’s 51st state rhetoric not ‘constructive’ during Ottawa visit

A U.S. Republican senator says she doesn't think President Donald Trump's past comments about making Canada the 51st state are helpful as the two countries are locked in negotiations to reach some sort of trade agreement.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was in Ottawa as part of a bipartisan delegation meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday morning.

Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Murkowski was asked about Trump's taunts about Canada becoming part of the U.S.

"I cannot explain President Trump's rhetoric about the 51st state. That is his statement [and] I think it has been made very, very clear that most view that as nothing more than a positioning statement… something to maybe agitate," she said.

"I don't think that's constructive, quite honestly. Certainly here in Canada you can sense that there is a direct hostility, if you will, to that suggestion."

Since his re-election in November, Trump has said multiple times that he wants to see Canada join the U.S. as its 51st state — though his rhetoric has cooled in recent weeks.

Trump was asked about the idea of Canada joining the U.S. as he was leaving the G7 meeting in Alberta last month and said he still thinks the country should become a state.

"I think it's a much better deal from Canada, but, you know, it's up to them," the president told reporters.

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U.S. President Donald Trump, who was asked as he returned from the G7 summit in Alberta about his repeated claims Canada should be a 51st state, said: 'I think it's a much better deal from Canada, but, you know, it's up to them.' As is, Canada would have to pay 'a lot' of tariffs and to join his proposed missile defence system, Trump said.

Trump and Carney have been in talks to reach a trade agreement after the U.S. slapped a series of tariffs on Canada earlier this year. Carney had set a deadline for an agreement to be reached a few times but has most recently pushed it back to Aug. 1.

Murkowski was joined in Ottawa by Democratic senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada.

Carney briefly spoke to reporters, saying he had a "good meeting" with the U.S. delegation.

The senators showed off Canada-U.S. friendship bracelets they wore into the meeting.

"Four senators here, [from] both political parties, spent the morning working to build bridges, not throw wrenches," Wyden said of the trade talks.

Wyden said he and his colleagues covered a number of topics with Carney, including Canada's digital services tax and softwood lumber.

The federal government rescinded the tax on companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb last month after Trump called for its removal.

Wyden said Monday that he wants Canada to permanently kill the tax in legislation and suggested Carney was open to that idea.

The Oregon senator also said he and his colleagues were pushing for a quota on Canadian softwood lumber exports to the U.S.

"Softwood lumber is enormously important and we asked about how we could make progress on dealing with that issue," Wyden said.

Carney says softwood quota is a possibility

The prime minister suggested last week he is open to a trade agreement that includes quotas.

"There is normally some element of managed trade that comes out of any agreement that comes there, it can include quotas, can include a variety of trade factors," Carney said.

The prime minister's comments came after B.C. Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News that a softwood quota was on the table in the trade talks with the U.S.

Softwood lumber has been a sticking point in Canada-U.S. relations for decades. The two countries have been without a softwood deal since 2015.