Donald Trump hasn’t been shy about sharing his thoughts since taking office, and he added a 20-minute Q&A with reporters aboard Air Force One to the mix. He held forth on everything from the color of the presidential plane to the fate of Greenland and Canada.
Trump spoke to reporters over the weekend while flying from Las Vegas to Florida – here’s a sampling of his comments.
Blue, blue…
Trump called Air Force One a “special plane” but observed that it hasn’t changed much from his last term. And, yes, he still wants to change the plane’s exterior colors.
“We want power blue, not baby blue,” Trump said. “Everything has its time and place. We’ll be changing the colors.”
How many times can they say ‘Not For Sale.’
Trump says he still wants Greenland.
He reiterated his desire to somehow purchase Greenland from Denmark, despite that country insisting it’s not for sale.
“I do believe Greenland, we’ll get because it really has to do with freedom of the world,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the United States, other than we’re the one that can provide the freedom.”
And as for Canada..
Trump also made some of his most extensive comments about his recent suggestions that Canada could become part of the US.
Canada, he said, “should be a state.”
“I love Canada,” he said. “I have so many friends up in Canada. And they like us, and they like me. But Canada’s been taking advantage of the United States for years, and we’re not going to let that happen.”
He suggested that the US is losing hundreds of millions annually to Canada in trade deficits while Canada does “almost 90% of their business with the United States.”
“I don’t want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on supporting the country unless that country is a state. And, if it’s a state, the people of Canada will pay a much lower tax.”
He said Canadians would also, “have no military problems, they’d be much more secure in every way, and I think it’s a great thing for Canada.”
“I view it as, honestly, a country that should be a state,” he said. “Then, they’ll get much better treatment, much better care and much lower taxes and they’ll be much more secure.”
Last week in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said, “Canada’s been very tough to deal with over the years.”
“It’s not fair that we should have a $200 billion or $250 billion deficit.”
In fact..
The US imports more Canadian goods than it exports north of the border. That difference is called a trade deficit.
In 2023, the US trade deficit with Canada was US$40.6 billion, according to research by the Centre for Future Work based on United States Census Bureau data.
In 2024, the trade deficit is estimated to be around US$45 billion, according to TD Economics.
In a report published online, TD noted that it’s unclear where Trump got the $200 billion figure, which “is roughly four to five times the officially reported statistics.”
Those numbers are small relative to the roughly $1 trillion in goods and services that cross the border both ways each year.
And, the US trade deficit with Canada is significantly smaller than that of countries like China and Mexico, even though Canada is the United States’ largest export market. Data from the US Census Bureau shows the US’s trade deficit with Canada was only the 10th largest in 2023.
Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work based in Vancouver, said, “Mr. Trump quite literally makes these numbers up and they can change from one day to the next, $100 billion, $200 billion, $300. It’s like a game show,”
If this article was shared with you by a friend or colleague, you may enjoy receiving your own copy of Travel Industry Today with the latest travel news and reviews each weekday morning. It’s absolutely free – just CLICK HERE.