Trump reinserts himself into Canadian politics, saying 'as a state, it works great'

Days before the federal election and after more than a week without commenting on Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump resurfaced his 51st state rhetoric Wednesday afternoon and suggested he could further raise auto tariffs.

The president was speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, when he repeated his false claim that the United States "subsidizes" Canada to the tune of $200 billion a year. 

"I have to be honest, as a state it works great. As a nation — consider the fact that what they do as a nation, 95 per cent of what they do is they buy from us and they sell to us," Trump said. 

The comments come as the Canadian federal election had become less focused on U.S. economic and sovereignty threats.

But Wednesday, Trump said that if Canada didn't trade with the U.S., "as Trudeau told me, they would cease to exist … which is true, certainly, as a country."

Trump said he called former prime minister Justin Trudeau "Governor Trudeau, affectionately."

On tariffs, he said he was "working on a deal" with Canada. But he later suggested he could raise them further.

"I'm working well with Canada. We're doing very well," Trump said. "I have spoken to the current prime minister. He was very, very nice. I will say we had a couple of very nice conversations — very good, but I don't think it's appropriate for me to get involved in their election."

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed to CBC News that Liberal Leader Mark Carney has only had one conversation with the U.S. president, a telephone call on March 28. At the time, the two leaders described the call as productive and Carney said that Trump had respected Canadian sovereignty. 

The Liberal leader has been campaigning on his ability to deal with Trump. Recent data from CBC's Vote Compass suggested top election issues for voters have been shifting since last week's leaders' debates. Before the debates, the top issue recorded by the vote-gauging tool had been Canada-U.S. relation, while afterward, that shifted to the economy and cost of living.

The president was also asked Wednesday whether he would increase tariffs on Canadian goods, which so far include levies on vehicles and auto parts, steel, aluminum, non-Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement compliant goods and an expected rise in tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. 

"At some point, it could go up," Trump said of the tariffs, though it was unclear how broadly he was speaking. Most of his comments were focused on the auto industry, but he also said no auto tariff increases are currently planned.

"All we're saying is we don't want your cars, with all due respect," the president said. "We don't need their oil. We don't need their lumber. We don't need their cars, so I said, 'Why are we doing this?' If we needed something, that would be a different subject."

The president repeated his $200-billion line twice Wednesday. Since December, Trump has cited various figures, between $100 billion US and $250 billion US, in saying that the country "subsidizes" Canada. Journalists and trade experts have repeatedly debunked the claim and said it's not clear where the U.S. president obtained such a large figure.