In a surprising development, the Trump administration is reportedly considering a proposal to redraw the border between the United States and Canada.
This comes amid President Donald Trump's repeated references to Canada as the potential 51st state of the U.S. According to a report by The Telegraph, Trump adviser Peter Navarro is advocating for a new border to be discussed during ongoing trade negotiations.
As reported by The Western Journal, an unnamed source close to the negotiations was quoted by The Telegraph as saying, Navarro recommended revising the Canada-U.S. border, which is just crazy and dangerous.
This has reportedly led to a temporary withdrawal of Canadian officials from the negotiations, as they hope for a more moderate approach from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer, Trump's nominee for trade representative. The Canadians reportedly view Lutnick and Greer as less extreme.
The source further revealed that, The Canadians have told their people to hold off negotiating with the U.S. government until Jamieson Greer and Howard Lutnick are confirmed by the Senate and in post. The source also suggested that Navarro is exploiting his current position to push his agenda, stating, Peter Navarro is in post, and he is taking advantage of being there by himself with no one else in post to challenge his extreme positions. This will change as soon as the many other trade and economic positions are filled.
President Trump has previously expressed his belief that the U.S.'s relationship with Canada is unbalanced. He stated, We protect Canada, but its not fair. Its not fair that theyre not paying their way, and if they had to pay their way they couldnt exist.
The current border between the U.S. and Canada has been in place for over a century. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 finalized the boundaries between Canada and Maine, as well as the section of the border between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods. The Pacific Northwest boundary was not settled until the 1846 Oregon Treaty, which drew the land boundary between the two nations along the 49th parallel, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Historically, border disputes have led to conflicts such as the 1859 Pig War, which began over a pig killed on the U.S. side of the border and resulted in a conflict in the Vancouver Islands off of Washington state.
The dispute was eventually resolved in Americas favor, with the pig being the sole casualty. Efforts to invade Canada from western New York in the name of Irish Fenians took place between 1866 and 1871, but ended in failure. It was not until 1903 that most of the Alaska-Canada border issues were resolved, as noted by the Theodore Roosevelt Center.
This new proposal to redraw the border is a significant departure from historical precedent and has the potential to significantly alter U.S.-Canada relations. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how this will impact the ongoing trade negotiations and the broader relationship between the two nations.
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