Canada's outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a group of business leaders that he believes President Donald Trump may be serious about annexing his country.

Trudeau suggested Trump proposed the idea of ​​taking over Canada and making it the "51st State" because he wanted to enter the country's key mineral.

"Mr. Trump remembers that the easiest way to absorb our country is to be a real thing," the prime minister said.

His comments were closed-door at the Canadian U.S. Economic Summit in Toronto, but were partially captured by microphones and reported by several Canadian media outlets.

The summit is attended by more than 100 business leaders and public policy experts and is chaired by the Canadian government’s newly formed Canadian-U.S. Relations Advisory Committee.

Trudeau's comments came after Trump threatened Canada's 25% export rate to the United States, with the lower rate of 10% except energy exports.

Tariffs will be imposed earlier this week, but Trump approved Canada and Mexico, threatened by similar tariffs - a last-minute probation of 30 days in exchange for more efforts to strengthen security on its common borders.

Trump repeatedly suggested in his social media platform Truth Social and his speeches to journalists that it might be Canada becoming the U.S. state, but avoiding tariffs. He also called the country's prime minister "Governor Trudeau."

"What I want to see is that Canada is our 51st state," Trump said in the Oval Office earlier this week.

Trump first mentioned his thoughts at a dinner with Trudeau in December. At the time, Canadian officials regarded it as a joke.

But Trudeau’s comments on Friday suggest that how Canada sees Trump’s rhetoric has changed.

An IPSOS poll conducted in January showed that most Canadians (80%) opposed their country becoming part of the United States and would not vote as "yes" in any referendum on this issue.

Such a move also requires approval at two U.S. Congress, and 60 votes are required to pass the Senate.

In Canada, Trump's threat has caused national anxiety. About three-quarters of Canadian exports are sold to the United States, and huge tariffs on these commodities could seriously damage Canada's economy and risk unemployment for thousands of people.

Some provincial politicians have been launching a “buy local” campaign to encourage Canadians to spend money at home rather than in the United States. Some Canadians have canceled their trip to the southern border in protest.

But officials also tried to build closer ties with the U.S. after the tariffs, saying Canada is willing to build a Canadian U.S. energy and key mineral alliance.

Energy Secretary Jonathan Wilkinson, who met with his U.S. counterparts in Washington, D.C. this week, said close cooperation with the two countries would be a "win-win."

Trudeau said at the summit on Friday that Canada is facing the possibility of a “long-term political situation that is more challenging with the United States” and that it must find ways to strengthen its economic and trade relations in the coming years.