Ontario Premier Doug Ford has never been one to shy away from a confrontation, but his latest sparring match with former US President Donald Trump has taken the Canada-US dynamic into uncharted territory.

No, Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford countered President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to make Canada the 51st state of the Union — by making an offer to purchase two American states. At a press conference Monday,

Both the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812 featured U.S. ambitions for Canadian annexation. Such talk rose again following the Civil War five decades later—a threat so grave that it motivated Canada’s political leadership to incorporate as a new country,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back against president-elect Donald Trump’s threats in a CNN interview, saying if he does bring in tariffs, Canada would be forced to retaliate. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre called on the government to be more forceful with the U.

Canadian official Dominic LeBlanc criticized President-elect Trump’s “51st state” remarks Wednesday, saying they were no longer funny. “The joke is over,” said LeBlanc, Canada’s finance and intergovernmental affairs minister.