Mexico, the 51st US state? Trump says maybe it should be

United States President-elect Donald Trump suggested Sunday that Mexico should become a state of the U.S. due to a trade imbalance between the two countries, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to reiterate that Mexico is “a free, sovereign and independent country.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, Trump railed against the trade deficits the United States is recording with Mexico and Canada, which together with the U.S. are the signatories to the USMCA free trade pact.

“We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100 billion a year. We’re subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion,” he said, significantly exaggerating the United States’ trade deficits with both countries.

“We shouldn’t be — why are we subsidizing these countries? If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state. We’re subsidizing Mexico and we’re subsidizing Canada and we’re subsidizing many countries all over the world,” Trump said.

“All I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field,” he added.

While Mexico has a significant trade surplus with the United States, it is not as large as Trump claimed. The United States’ trade deficit with its southern neighbor was US $152.47 billion in 2023 and $141.85 billion in the first 10 months of 2024, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Although Trump signed the USMCA deal, which superseded NAFTA in 2020, he evidently believes that trade between the three North American countries is not fair. In October, he pledged to renegotiate the pact. Since the trade agreement took effect, Mexico has become the world’s top exporter to the United States, ousting China from that position in 2023.

Trump has pledged to impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican and Canadian exports to the United States on the first day of his second term, although his stated motivation for doing so is not the trade imbalance but what he described as the “long simmering problem” of drugs and migrants entering the U.S. via its southern and northern borders.

Trump said in a social media post on Nov. 25 that his proposed tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

At her morning press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum was asked about the president-elect’s “let them become a state” remark in reference to Mexico and Canada.

She initially expressed her desire to cease “dialogue” with Trump “through the media,” but added that “obviously Mexico is a free, sovereign and independent country.”

“We all know that and we always have to defend it,” Sheinbaum said.

“I understand that this subsidy he speaks about has to do with the increase in Mexico’s exports to the United States, which now exceed [Mexico’s] imports [from the U.S.],” she said.

“But yesterday, at the event we were at in Nuevo Laredo, I stated that the only way to compete with other regions of the world is by maintaining and strengthening the [North American] trade agreement, the USMCA,” Sheinbaum said.

“… More than looking at each other as competition, we have to look at each other as complementary. It was President Trump who signed the USMCA and the United States has had a lot of benefits from the agreement,” she said.

Sheinbaum previously said that her government would implement its own reciprocal tariff on U.S. exports to Mexico if Trump goes ahead with his Nov. 25 tariff threat. However, she has expressed confidence that the proposed U.S. tariff won’t end up being imposed on Mexican exports. Meanwhile, the Mexican government has countered that a 25% tax on Mexican exports would have a negative impact on the U.S. economy and consumers.

What else did Trump say about Mexico on Sunday?

Trump’s “Meet the Press” interview was his first sit-down interview since he won the United States presidential election on Nov. 5.

In a discussion with NBC journalist Kristen Welker that lasted more than an hour, the president-elect made a range of remarks that were directly or indirectly related to Mexico.

Here is a selection of those comments.

On tariffs:  

• “I’m a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they’re beautiful. It’s going to make us rich.”
• Tariffs are … properly used … a very powerful tool, not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics.”

On his recent call with Sheinbaum:

• “Within ten minutes after that phone call, we noticed that the people coming across the border, the southern border having to do with Mexico, there was … just a trickle. … The [Mexican] military stopped these vast groups of people. You know, we call them caravans. But they had caravans of people, and they largely stopped them. Now, they’re going to have to continue that … and the other thing I told them is no more drugs.”

(Sheinbaum previously rejected Trump’s claim that she agreed during their call to “stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border.”)

On current and future border security:

• “We have millions of people pouring into our country. … And drugs are pouring in. Almost as importantly, drugs are pouring in. Maybe more importantly. Drugs are pouring in at levels never seen before, 10 times what we had. They’re just pouring in. We can’t have open borders.”
• “We’re going to do something with the border [in our first 100 days in office], very strong, very powerful. That’ll be our first signal — first signal to America that we’re not playing games. We have people coming in by the millions, as you know, and a lot of people shouldn’t be here. Most of them shouldn’t be here.”

On his mass deportation plan: 

• I think you have to [deport everyone in the United States illegally] and it’s … a very tough thing to do. … But you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. You know the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been on line for ten years to come into the country.”
• “We have to get the criminals out of our country. We have to get people that were taken out of mental institutions and put them back into their mental institution no matter what country it is.”
• “We’re starting with the criminals and we’ve got to do it. And then we’re starting with others and we’re going to see how it goes.”
• “The Dreamers are going to come later, and we have to do something about the Dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age. And many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country. And yes, we’re going to do something about the Dreamers. … I will work with the Democrats on a plan. … Republicans are very open to the Dreamers. … “I do [want them to be able to stay].”

Mexico News Daily