Trudeau Says Trump Talk of Absorbing Canada Is ‘A Real Thing’, Paper Says

 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to business and labor leaders on investment, trade and international markets amid the looming threat of US protectionism in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to business and labor leaders on investment, trade and international markets amid the looming threat of US protectionism in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trudeau Says Trump Talk of Absorbing Canada Is ‘A Real Thing’, Paper Says

 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to business and labor leaders on investment, trade and international markets amid the looming threat of US protectionism in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to business and labor leaders on investment, trade and international markets amid the looming threat of US protectionism in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said US President Donald Trump's talk about absorbing Canada "is a real thing" and is linked to the country's rich natural resources, the Toronto Star reported.

Trudeau made the remarks during a closed-door session of business and labor leaders on how best to respond to Trump's threats of tariffs on Canadian imports. His comments were mistakenly carried by a loudspeaker, the paper said.

Trump has repeatedly suggested Canada would be better off if it agreed to become the 51st US state.

"They're very aware of our resources, of what we have and they very much want to be able to benefit from those," the Star quoted Trudeau as saying.

"But Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country. And it is a real thing."

Trudeau's office did not respond to a request about the reported remarks.

Canada, seeking to fend off US measures, has stressed it is a trusted partner and a major supplier of oil, minerals and other natural resources.

In remarks open to reporters, Trudeau had earlier said Canada could face long-term political challenges with the United States even if it manages to avert Trump's threat of tariffs.

Trump on Monday said he would delay the imposition of tariffs on Canadian exports by 30 days in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement, in particular cracking down on fentanyl smuggling.

Trudeau said Ottawa's immediate challenge was to persuade Washington that Canada was doing all it could to combat the flow of fentanyl. Public data shows 0.2% of all the supply of the drug seized in the US comes from the Canadian border.

If tariffs were imposed, Canada would respond in kind, but its goal would always be to have the measures removed as fast as possible, Trudeau told business and labor leaders at the start of the meeting on how to diversify trade and boost the economy.

"The strategic reflection we have to have right now is ... how we get through, and thrive, and grow stronger over the next four years and into what may be a more challenging long-term political situation with the United States?" he said.

Peter Navarro, a senior Trump trade adviser, this week said Canada had become a leading source of small, duty-free shipments of drugs, also had "big" visa issues and had let people on the "terrorism watch list" enter the United States.

Canada sends 75% of all goods and services exports south of the border, making it highly vulnerable to US sanctions.

Trudeau, echoing long-standing complaints from the business community, said internal trade barriers between the 10 provinces were hampering the economy.

"This is one of those moments and opportunities where ... there's a window open because of the context we're in. We have to jump through it," he said.



Contaminated Fukushima Soil Delivered to Japan PM Office

Workers unload bags of soil removed during decontamination following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on July 19, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
Workers unload bags of soil removed during decontamination following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on July 19, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
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Contaminated Fukushima Soil Delivered to Japan PM Office

Workers unload bags of soil removed during decontamination following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on July 19, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
Workers unload bags of soil removed during decontamination following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on July 19, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

Dozens of bags of mildly radioactive soil collected from near the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant were delivered Saturday to the Japanese prime minister's office, in an effort to show it is safe for reuse.

Soon after the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land in Fukushima to reduce radiation levels.

A vast quantity of soil -- 14 million cubic meters -- has since been stored at facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant, with the government setting a 2045 deadline for its transfer elsewhere in the country.

Most of the stored soil contains low levels of radiation equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, the environment ministry said.

But with few willing to take the contaminated earth, the government took it upon itself to reuse some of the soil to show it is not dangerous.

On Saturday, workers unloaded bags of the dirt from a truck in the front yard of the prime minister's office in central Tokyo, with earlier reports saying it will be used in flower beds.

A layer of ordinary soil around 20 centimeters (eight inches) deep will sit on top of the Fukushima soil, according to the environment ministry.

Opinion polls suggest that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition could lose its majority in upper house elections on Sunday, a result that might push him to resign after less than a year in office.