Fox News host: Canada should be annexed for oil — if we can make them 'go along with it'

Fox News host Jesse Watters went all in on the idea of the United States annexing Canada on Tuesday's edition of "The Five," in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Donald Trump's efforts to bully Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In the meeting of the two leaders held last week, Trudeau raised objections to Trump's plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods coming in from Canada, including oil — and Trump shot back that if Canada can't function without its current trade surplus with the United States, maybe the country should consider becoming the 51st state.

"Let's just be clear, we're not going to make Canada the 51st state. We'll make it 51 and 52, you make western Canada, that'll be Republican, that'll be Democrat, so you keep the electoral balance there," said Watters. The "prairie provinces" in the western part of Canada generally vote for conservative politicians, although coastal British Columbia tends to be a lot more liberal.

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"So many reasons to make this a state," he continued. "I think it has the third largest oil reserves in the world, so that makes us an energy behemoth. It's the most well-educated country in the world, because we need a little help in that department. Talk about mining, agriculture, fishing, AI, tech, real estate — Canada, you name it, they got it. We'll never probably lose another Winter Olympics, we'll have all of their skaters and skiers. I mean, good luck, Sweden! And they share our cultural heritage, they share our language, it's just a no-brainer."

"I don't know if Canada is going to go along with it, but there's ways to maybe change their opinion," he added, to general laughter around the table.

Economic experts have warned that Trump's tariffs are likely to cause a surge in prices for energy and goods.

Watch the video below or at the link here.