'There Will be Price to Pay': Trudeau Ex-Ally Jagmeet Singh's Warning to Trump Amid Canada Threat

Ottawa: Jagmeet Singh, an ex-ally of former Canada PM Justin Trudeau and a Canadian MP, has issued a warning to US President-elect Donald Trump , after the latter threatened to merge US and Canada and to impose punishing tariffs. Jagmeet Singh, in a post on ‘X’ said, “…there will be price to pay.”

‘There Will Be Price to Pay’: Trudeau Ex-Ally Jagmeet Singh Warns Trump 

Jagmeet Singh, a Canadian MP and leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), has warned Trump of consequences if he pursued his threats of imposing punishing tariffs and for making Canada the 51st state of the United States.

In a video message shared on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter), Jagmeet Singh said, “I have a message for Donald Trump. Our country's not for sale. Not now, not never. I lived across this country and I can tell you that Canadians are proud people. We're proud of our country and are ready to fight like hell to defend it. Right now with the forest fires ravaging home, Canadian firefighters showed up - that's who we are. We show up for our neighbours."

He further said, "But if Donald Trump thinks… if you think you can pick a fight with us, there'll be a price to pay. I've committed that if Donald Trump imposes tariffs on us, we should respond with retaliatory tariffs in kind. I think that anyone running as Prime Minister should do the same.”

Trump's Tariff and Merger Threat to Canada

Recently, US President-elect Donald Trump proposed imposing a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports unless Canada strengthens its border security measures. “You get rid of the artificially drawn line and you take a look at what it looks like ... and it would also be much better financial security," Trump stated, suggesting that Canada should become the 51st state and continued to threaten major tariffs on both Canada and Mexico. Trump also criticised American spending on Canadian goods, stating, "Why are we supporting a country with $200+ BILLION a year? They should be a state!" He threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico unless the two countries addressed border security concerns.

Recently, Trump renewed his offer of making Canada the 51st state of the United States. On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared a map with Canada labeled as part of the US, captioned “Oh Canada!” The map, shared by Trump on his social media platform, shows Canada depicted as a territory of the United States. Another image shared highlighted only the US and Canada, labeling the entire region as the “United States.” Earlier, Trump shared his vision, saying, “If Canada merged with the US, there would be no tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of Russian and Chinese ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!” This statement came following the resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

‘There Isn’t A Snowball's Chance in Hell…': Trudeau on Trump's US-Canada Merger 'Threat'

A day after Donald Trump remade an offer to make Canada the 51st state of US after Trudeau's resignation, the latter made a sharp response, denying any and every possibility of of US-Canada merger.

In a post on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter), Justin Trudeau said, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.”

Trudeau's Resignation as Canada PM

Trudeau, 53, announced to resign Monday as he was forced by his ruling Liberal Party amidst his growing unpopularity. General elections are scheduled this year. The Canadian prime minister said that he would stay on as prime minister till the party elected a new leader. In his words, “...I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister after the party selects its next leader...Last night I asked the president of the Liberal Party to start that process…”

In his resignation statement he said, “I'm a fighter. Every bone in my body has always told me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians. And the fact is, despite best efforts to work through it, Parliament has been paralyzed for months. That's why this morning I advised the Governor-General that we need a new session of Parliament. She has granted this request and the House will now be prorogued until March 24th. I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I have to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election. A new Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party will carry its values and ideals into the next election. I'm excited to see the process unfold in the months ahead. It's time for a reset. It's time for the temperature to come down, for the people to have a fresh start in Parliament, to be able to navigate through these complex times, both domestically and internationally. I do wish that we'd been able to change the way we elect our governments ... but I could not change unilaterally, without the support of other parties, our electoral system, that wouldn't have been responsible."

(Inputs from AP)