BANFF – The U.S. ambassador to Canada says he takes offence to suggestions that President Donald Trump is uninformed about what his country’s northern neighbour has to offer.
Pete Hoekstra made the comments today during a tense onstage discussion at the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta.
Colin Robertson, a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, pressed Hoekstra on what the diplomat is conveying to his boss about Canadian sentiment toward the U.S.
Robertson told Hoekstra that Trump didn’t seem well informed when he said Canada doesn’t have anything that America needs, when it fact products like potash fertilizer are in high demand.
That remark elicited an applause from the audience and the angry retort from the ambassador.
Robertson asked Hoekstra whether he empathizes with Canadians who don’t take kindly to the president’s past musings about Canada becoming the “51st state.”
Hoekstra seemed exasperated by the question.
“If you want to base your relationship with the United States of America on ‘51st state’ comments, that’s for you to decide,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.
