Donald Trump doubled down on his position that Canada could become the ’51st State’ after King Charles’ show of support for independence on Tuesday. King Charles, the head of state in Canada, was invited to Canada by new prime minister Mark Carney, prompted by Trump’s repeated threats of annexation. He avoided mentioning Trump directly in his speech on Tuesday, but noted Canada’s ‘anxieties’ about a ‘changing world’ and reaffirmed Canada’s sovereignty, saying the ‘True North is indeed strong and free’.

But Trump seemed to respond to the visit later on Tuesday, writing that if Canada becomes the ‘cherished 51st State’ it won’t have to pay to join his future Golden Dome missile program. ‘It will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State. They are considering the offer!,’ Trump posted on social media. The comments appears to run contrary to claims from the U.S. ambassador to Canada, who told CBC’s The House last week, before the king’s speech, that the annexation saga was ‘over’.

Pete Hoekstra said he understood the message that was being sent with the rare royal address, adding that there were ‘easier ways to send messages’ to the U.S. government. He said that Canada should ‘move on’ from the annexation saga, as the Trump administration has ‘too much on our plate to move forward’. ‘If the Canadians want to keep talking about it – that’s their business. I’m not talking about it; Donald Trump is not talking about it,’ he said at the time.

Trump supporters rallied around the president after his comments on social media. Dean Skoreyko wrote on X: ‘Trump owned King Carney and King Charles today. They didn’t see it coming. 51th state. [sic]’ Columnist Benny Johnson shared the post, noting Trump’s claims that Canada was ‘considering the offer’. ‘Art of the deal,’ he wrote.

Trump asserted that Canada was ‘considering’ the offer to join the U.S. days after he announced the new missile defense system, which he estimates will cost $175bn over three years. The shield, he hopes, will be capable of shooting down missiles fired from across the planet, covering the entire United States. Security experts told the WSJ the task ahead is more complex, and the technologies required are still nascent.

Nonetheless, Trump insists that the coverage could extend to Canada for a fee – or for free if they join. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly made threats to bring Canada into the United States. Trump’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Mike Waltz said in February it was unlikely that the U.S. military would invade Canada and annex the country. The suggestion prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to invite Charles to give a speech from the throne outlining the Liberal government’s priorities for the new session of Parliament.

Charles said on Tuesday that Canada is facing unprecedented challenges in a world that’s never been more dangerous as he opened the Parliament with a speech widely viewed as a show of support in the face of the annexation threats. ‘We must face reality: since the Second World War, our world has never been more dangerous and unstable. Canada is facing challenges that, in our lifetimes, are unprecedented,’ Charles said in French, one of Canada’s official languages. He added that ‘many Canadians are feeling anxious and worried about the drastically changing world around them.’

It’s rare for the monarch to deliver the speech from the throne in Canada. Charles´ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, did it twice. The king noted that it had been nearly 70 years since his mother first opened Parliament. The visit to Canada was Charles’ first as king and his 20th overall. ‘Canada has dramatically changed: repatriating its constitution, achieving full independence and witnessing immense growth. Canada has embraced its British, French and Indigenous roots and become a bold, ambitious, innovative country that is bilingual, truly multicultural,’ the monarch said.

The king said that among the priorities for the government is protection of the French language and Quebec culture, which are at the heart of Canadian identity. He said when his mother opened a new session of Canadian Parliament in 1957, World War II remained a fresh, painful memory and the Cold War was intensifying. ‘Freedom and democracy were under threat,’ he said. ‘Today, Canada faces another critical moment.’

The speech isn’t written by the king or his U.K. advisers, as Charles serves as a nonpartisan head of state. He read what was put before him by Canada’s government, but can make some remarks of his own. Canadians are largely indifferent to the monarchy, but Carney has been eager to show the differences between Canada and the United States. After the United States gained independence from Britain, Canada remained a colony until 1867, and afterward continued as a constitutional monarchy with a British-style parliamentary system.

The king’s visit clearly underscores Canada’s sovereignty, Carney said. Carney won the job of prime minister by promising to confront the increased aggression shown by Trump and made his first official trip to London and Paris, the capital cities of Canada’s two founding nations. Carney is eager to diversify trade, and the king said Canada can build new alliances. More than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., and Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.

The king said Canada must protect Quebec’s dairy supply management industry, which Trump has attacked in trade talks. And he said the Canadian government will protect the country’s sovereignty by reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. Trump has asserted that Canada doesn’t spend enough on its military.

The king also said Canada would look to the European Union to purchase military equipment by joining the ‘REARM Europe’ plan – a major defense procurement project to ramp up arms production in Europe. The speech made no mention of buying from the U.S. Charles is also the king of the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and others – 14 realms in total. He exercises no political power in any of them.