Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she finds US President-Elect Donald Trump "hilarious" for his joke about Canada becoming the 51st state. When Smith has been interviewed about Trump's proposed tariffs, she has said Canada and the US are strong countries and have a strong partnership. “We have a history of working together not just in trade but in collective national defence,” said Smith at a Wednesday press conference. “We’ve fought wars together, and we’re going to continue to be independent.” At the moment, she said Canada has to deal with real issues such as illegal migrants, cross-border trade and drugs, and meeting the 2% NATO spending target. She added it “seems to me that we have to take the incoming president seriously when he’s talking about those things as an irritant to trade.” If Canada addresses those issues by having proper border security and meeting its NATO commitment, she said it will have a strong relationship with the US. However, she said it has to address them for that to happen. Sources revealed to Fox News on Monday Trump told Trudeau if he disapproves of the tariffs, Canada can always join the US as its 51st state..'YOU COULD BE GOVERNOR!': Trump tells Trudeau Canada could be the 51st state.Trudeau met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday to address the 25% tariffs he plans to leverage against Canada and Mexico to respond to out-of-control drug trafficking and illegal immigration. After the meeting, each of them released a statement that it went well, but little detail was given. Trudeau said they had an excellent conversation and looked forward to the work they can do together, and Trump acknowledged the visit was productive..Smith followed up by saying she would be speaking with US governors about border security when she travels to it. “I’ve actually tasked Mike Ellis with working with his counterpart in Montana on identifying ways that they can share information cross border,” she said. “I have a call scheduled with Montana Gov. [Greg] Gianforte to talk about it.” In the past, she and Gianforte put out a joint letter to have a 24-hour border crossing at Wild Horse Border Crossing. She pointed out this might be an opportunity to revisit that. Ellis said on Tuesday an Alberta Sheriffs team related to border crossings will be coming soon..Ellis says plans for Alberta Sheriffs border unit being accelerated .As Ellis has indicated before, this Alberta Sheriffs team about the border is under development. “But I will tell you this — It’s something that’s been accelerated,” he said.
