King travelled to Ottawa to address ‘anxious’ Canadians. Then Trump took aim again

Ottawa, Ontario: King Charles III said Canada faced unprecedented challenges in a world that had never been more dangerous as he opened the Canadian parliament with a speech widely viewed as a show of support in the face of annexation threats by US President Donald Trump.

The King is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the Commonwealth. Trump’s repeated suggestion that Canada become the 51st state prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to invite Charles to give a speech from the throne outlining the Liberal government’s priorities for the new session of parliament.

“We must face reality: since the Second World War, our world has never been more dangerous and unstable. Canada is facing challenges that, in our lifetimes, are unprecedented,” Charles said on Tuesday, speaking in French, one of Canada’s official languages.

He said “many Canadians are feeling anxious and worried about the drastically changing world around them”.

The King reaffirmed Canada’s sovereignty, saying the “‘True North’ is indeed strong and free”.

Trump seemed to respond to the King’s visit later Tuesday, writing that if Canada becomes the “cherished 51st State” it won’t have to pay to join his future Golden Dome missile defence program.

King Charles looks on after delivering the speech from the throne in the Senate in Ottawa.Credit: AP

“It will cost $US61 billion ($95 billion) if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State. They are considering the offer,” Trump posted on social media.

It’s rare for the monarch to deliver the speech from the throne in Canada. Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, did it twice. The King noted that it had been nearly 70 years since his mother first opened parliament.

The visit to Canada was Charles’ first as King and his 20th overall.

He said when his mother opened a new session of Canadian parliament in 1957, World War II remained a fresh, painful memory and the Cold War was intensifying.

“Freedom and democracy were under threat,” he said. “Today, Canada faces another critical moment.”

The speech isn’t written by the King or his UK advisers, as Charles serves as a nonpartisan head of state. He read what was put before him by Canada’s government, but can make some remarks of his own.

Canadians are largely indifferent to the monarchy, but Carney has been eager to show the differences between Canada and the US.

After the US gained independence from Britain, Canada remained a colony until 1867, and afterward continued as a constitutional monarchy with a British-style parliamentary system.

King Charles inspects an honour guard as he arrives at the Senate building in Ottawa.Credit: AP

The King’s visit clearly underscores Canada’s sovereignty, Carney said.

Carney is eager to diversify trade and the King said Canada could build new alliances. More than 75 per cent of Canada’s exports go to the US, and Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.

The King said Canada must protect Quebec’s dairy supply management industry, which Trump has attacked in trade talks.

And he said the Canadian government will protect the country’s sovereignty by reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. Trump has asserted that Canada doesn’t spend enough on its military.

The King also said Canada would look to the European Union to purchase military equipment by joining the “REARM Europe” plan – a major defence procurement project to ramp up arms production in Europe.

The speech made no mention of buying from the US.

A horse-drawn carriage took Charles and Queen Camilla to the Senate of Canada Building for the speech. It was accompanied by 28 horses. After inspecting a 100-person honour guard and receiving a 21-gun salute, the King entered the building as the crowd cheered.

Former Canadian prime ministers Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper were among those in attendance.

Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau greets King Charles ahead of the speech.Credit: AP

The King returned to the UK after the speech and a visit to Canada’s National War Memorial.

“Thank you for coming,” one voice called from the crowd as the royal couple moved toward their motorcade.

Justin Vovk, a Canadian royal historian, said the King’s visit reminded him of when Queen Elizabeth II opened the parliament in Grenada, a member of the Commonwealth, in 1985.

A US-led force invaded the islands in October 1983 without consulting the British government following the killing of Grenada’s Marxist prime minister, Maurice Bishop.

Charles is also the King of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and others – 14 realms in total. He exercises no political power in any of them.

AP

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