Behind Closed Doors, Trudeau Says Trump Threat to Take Over Canada Is Real

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Friday made his first comments in response to President Trump’s repeated statements that he wants to annex Canada and make it the 51st state.

Mr. Trudeau made clear that he did not regard Mr. Trump’s statements as having been made in jest and believes annexation is something Canada needs to treat as a serious threat.

And he believes he knows why Mr. Trump covets Canada.

“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Mr. Trudeau told a gathering of company executives and business leaders in Toronto, according to people in the room who listened to his comments.

The news media had been asked to leave the room at the time Mr. Trudeau delivered his comments, but at least two news outlets, The Toronto Star and the CBC, were able to hear them and record them. Mr. Trudeau’s office declined to provide details of what the prime minister said.

“They’re very aware of our resources,” Mr. Trudeau added, “of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.”

And he continued: “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.”

Mr. Trump has been talking about annexing Canada for weeks as he has laid the groundwork for plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States.

On Monday, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Trump agreed to a 30-day reprieve on tariffs after Canada pledged to adopt a more stringent plan to secure its border with the United States.

During comments to reporters that day in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump again raised the statehood issue. “What I’d like to see, Canada become our 51st state,” he said. “I’d love to see that, but some people say that would be a long shot,” he added.

Canada is home to 31 minerals considered critical for use in various industries, including for electric car batteries, solar panels and semiconductors. Of those, Canada is prioritizing lithium, graphite, nickel, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements as part of a strategy to position itself as a leader in the global transition away from fossil fuels.

The supply chain is deeply integrated, and the health of the U.S. economy depends on Canada, said François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s industry minister.

“This is about a confident Canada,” Mr. Champagne told reporters at Friday’s meeting.

As part of its plan to fend off tariffs, Canada is implementing a border security plan in response to Mr. Trump’s accusations that the country is contributing to “massive” fentanyl trafficking to the United States, even though Canada is responsible for a tiny fraction of the fentanyl crossing the border.

Those measures include 10,000 personnel assigned to the border, along with helicopters, drones and canine teams. The government also said it would name a “fentanyl czar” to lead the response.

“We need to be very deliberate about how we continue to engage closely with the United States to make the case and demonstrate that Canada is responsible for a tiny part of the North American fentanyl problem,’’ Mr. Trudeau told the business leaders, “but that we are also bitterly touched by this tragedy.”