Trump Speaks Out on His Desire to Annex Canada, Recession Concerns, and If He Has to Uphold the Constitution

The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House have been dominated by talks of Executive Orders, tariffs, foreign relations in light of the trade war sparked by the tariffs, comments about annexing Canada, and much more.

Such topics were discussed in Trump’s April 22 interview in TIME, and it was of little surprise that the subject matters came up again when Trump sat down for an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Read More: Exclusive: Inside Trump’s First 100 Days

Here are some of the key topics Trump spoke out about in his televised interview, conducted by Kristen Welker, which aired in full on Sunday, May 4:

A desire to annex Canada and make it the “51st state”

In recent months, Trump has made a number of comments highlighting his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. In a post shared on Truth Social on March 11, when addressing the concerns Canada raised regarding tariffs, Trump said: “The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won the Canadian election on April 28, has—much like his predecessor Justin Trudeau—made it clear that Canada has no intention of taking Trump up on his offer. “It will never happen,” he said.

In this latest interview, Trump said he had congratulated Carney on his election win, but doubled down on his desire to make Canada the 51st state, saying he will “always talk about that.” Trump repeated his previous sentiments, referring once more to Canada’s former Prime Minister as “Governor Trudeau.”

He emphasized what he believes are unfair trade practices with the country, claiming that Canada needs the United States.

“If Canada was a state it wouldn’t cost us. It would be great. It would be such a great—it would be a cherished state. And, if you look at our map, if you look at the geography, I’m a real estate guy at heart. When I look down at that without that artificial line that was drawn with a ruler many years ago… You don’t even realize. What a beautiful country it would be,” he said. “Again, remember this, we don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything. We do very little business with Canada. They do all of their business practically with us. They need us. We don’t need them.”

Trump added that it would be “highly unlikely” for him to use military force on Canada, as much as he would like to see the country implemented as a state.

Is the U.S. heading into a recession?

Trump echoed his previous comments regarding whether or not the fallout of his so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” which led to market volatility after their announcement in early April, will help lead the U.S. into a recession.

When asked if it’s “okay to have a recession in the short-term,” Trump said: “Yeah, it’s… everything’s okay. I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”

The President was asked if he’s worried about concerns raised by Wall Street, that the possibility of a recession is increasing. At the end of April, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy shrank in early 2025.

Trump once again focused on the long-term positive effects he is hoping for, rather than any concerns regarding the current economy.

“Anything can happen,” he said. “But I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I think we’re going to have the greatest economic boom in history.”

He also insisted that many economic issues were left over from the Biden era. “I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy, because he’s done a terrible job,” he said.

Does a President need to uphold the Constitution?

Trump was questioned about his recent back-and-forth with the Supreme Court, after it ordered the federal government to “facilitate” Kilmar Ábrego García‘s return to the United States. The Maryland man was deported to El Salvador by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March, in what was initially called an administrative error. Although Ábrego García entered the U.S. illegally years ago, in 2019 a judge granted him “withholding of removal” status, after determining that his fears of persecution if he were returned to El Salvador were credible.

Despite the Supreme Court’s instruction, the Trump Administration has so far declined to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return.

“I have the power to ask for him to come back if I’m instructed by the Attorney General that it’s legal to do so,” Trump said. “But the decision as to whether or not he should come back will be the head of El Salvador. He’s a very capable man.”

When asked if he believes that every person in the U.S. deserves due process—regardless of their legal status—Trump said “I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer” After Welker pointed to the Fifth Amendment, which states that “no person” shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” Trump responded once more.

“I don’t know. It seems—it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or two million or three million trials,” the President said. “We have thousands of people that are—some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.”

When asked if he needs to uphold the Constitution as the U.S. President, Trump said: “I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”