Canada could become the 51st state of America.. A minister explains Trump’s statement

A Canadian minister said that US President-elect Donald Trump was joking when he suggested that Canada become the 51st state in the United States, during a dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Fox News reported that Trump made these statements in response to Trudeau’s growing concerns that the tariffs that Trump threatens to impose on Canadian goods will harm the Canadian economy.
Public Safety Minister Dominique LeBlanc, who attended Trump’s dinner on Friday at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump’s comments were a joke.

Good relations

“Trump was telling jokes, he was joking with us, it was not a serious comment at all,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa.

He described the meeting as a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida over a long weekend.
He added: “The conversation was friendly and funny.”
The Canadian minister described relations as good and friendly, and said that the fact that “the president was joking in this way with us” indicates good relations.