Washington, DC: During a news conference on Tuesday (local time), White House news Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump remains steadfast in his views on Canada and that he thinks the country would gain a lot from joining the US as its 51st state.

“I would reject the president’s position on Canada has shifted; perhaps, he just hasn’t been asked about Canada by questions from this group in the Oval Office when they see him almost every day,” Leavitt said in response to a question about whether Trump’s tone on Canada-US ties has changed in recent weeks and he has stopped talking about Canada becoming the 51st state of the US. The president, however, continues to hold his views toward Canada. Since the US has been funding Canada’s national defense, he thinks that Canadians would gain a lot from the country joining the US as its 51st state.

Trump has ridiculed former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “Governor of Canada” and has said on several occasions that Canada ought to become the 51st state in the union.

Leavitt stated that she had nothing to read out when asked about Trump’s suggestion that automakers “could be helped” and whether tariff relief for automakers was part of his plan. However, she emphasized that the US President is approachable when it comes to discussions and negotiations and, ultimately, his objective in his fair trade agreements.

“As for autos and auto parts, I don’t have anything to read out for you there, but I think the point the president was making is flexibility and he has flexibility when it comes to negotiations and talks, but ultimately his goal in his fair trade deals that he is pursuing with many countries around the world is to put the American worker first and we had automakers and auto workers here at the White House on Liberation Day who believe in this president and his negotiating ability to put them first and to bring those jobs back to the United States of America as well.”

According to Fox News, Trump said on Monday that he was “looking” into possible part-specific tariff exemptions for automakers and emphasized the need to be “flexible” during the ongoing trade talks. Trump’s remarks suggested that automakers would benefit from the administration’s decision to exclude electronic devices—like laptops, iPhones, and smartphones—from the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US President.

At a meeting with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador on Monday, Trump told reporters, “I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies, where they are switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico, and other places.” He said, “They’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time — so I’m talking about things like that.”

According to Fox News, he also restated his previous statements on the need for exercising flexibility in the current trade talks with other countries.

“Look, I’m a very flexible person,” Trump told reporters. Although I don’t alter my viewpoint, you must be adaptable like me. You simply cannot have a wall, and you will only sometimes need to pass under, over, or around it.” “There might be things coming,” he remarked. We will eventually reach a position of glory for our nation, and I don’t want to offend anybody.”

Trump said on April 9 that tariffs on China will be raised to 125% immediately. Following a retaliatory action by China, which raised its tax on US imports from 34% to 84% beginning on April 10, the US president took this action.

Concurrently, Trump said that he had authorized a 90-day “pause” and a significantly reduced reciprocal tariff for 75 nations that had invited US representatives to engage in trade negotiations.