Trudeau to talk with King Charles on defending Canada ‘sovereignty’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would speak with King Charles III about defending Canada’s sovereignty.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday (AEDT) he would speak with King Charles III about defending Canada’s sovereignty, as US President Donald Trump repeatedly calls for the country to become the 51st US state.

Mr Trump’s comments have been met with outrage in Canada, and officials have firmly rejected any discussion of it ever becoming a part of the US.

When he meets on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) with King Charles, who is Canada’s head of state, Mr Trudeau said he hopes to “discuss matters of importance to Canada and to Canadians”.

“And I can tell you that nothing is more important to Canadians right now than standing up for our sovereignty and our independence as a nation,” said the Prime Minister, in London for a summit on Ukraine.

Mr Trump has been particularly transfixed on Canadian sovereignty since winning a new White House term in November.

He regularly refers to Canada as the “51st state”, and has demeaned Mr Trudeau by calling him “governor” instead of Prime Minister.

Mr Trump has ordered tariffs against the major US trading partner, set to take effect on Tuesday, while saying they could be avoided if Canada were part of the US.

Mr Trudeau last month warned that Mr Trump’s persistent talk about absorbing Canada to access its natural resources was “a real thing”.

Some Canadians have wondered aloud why King Charles has not spoken out in defence of Canada. It is custom that the monarch acts only on the advice of the prime minister in matters involving the Commonwealth nation.

Last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer invited Mr Trump for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, which could provide an opportunity for the King to raise the issue of Canadian sovereignty.

Mr Trump’s state visit will go ahead despite calls for it to be reconsidered in light of his ongoing criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ministers stood by the invitation, which was made in a letter handed to Mr Trump by Sir Keir during his visit to Washington.

There had been calls from the Scottish National Party and a senior Conservative MP for a change in tack given Mr Trump’s treatment of Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Saturday (AEDT).

However, Sir Keir said he would not be “diverted” by those he accused of “trying to ramp up the rhetoric”.

He added that gaining US support for a security guarantee under any peace deal in Ukraine was “the single most important thing at stake in Europe”.