Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered his bluntest message yet to Donald Trump, telling the former and potentially future U.S. president to "knock that s--t off" regarding repeated suggestions that Canada should become America's 51st state.
The unusually direct language came during Poilievre's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, one of the world's most popular podcasts, where the likely next Canadian Prime Minister outlined his approach to managing relations with an unpredictable American neighbor. The CBC reported on seven key takeaways from the wide-ranging interview, which covered everything from Canadian sovereignty to energy policy to cultural identity.
"I like President Trump in many ways," Poilievre told Rogan. "But when he talks about making Canada the 51st state, I say: knock that s--t off. We're not interested. We're a separate country, we're going to stay a separate country, and we can be great friends and allies without being the same country."
In Canada, as Canadians would politely insist, we're more than just America's neighbor—we're a distinct nation with our own priorities. Poilievre's forceful language—particularly notable given his typically measured public persona—signals how a Conservative government would approach sovereignty issues with Washington.
The comments mark the most explicit public rebuke of Trump's territorial musings, which the former president has raised repeatedly in recent months, sometimes in jest and sometimes with apparent seriousness. Trump has variously suggested that Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal should come under U.S. control, comments that have alarmed allies and delighted his political base.


