During an interview that aired during the Super Bowl pre-show, US President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to annex Canada as the 51st state.
When asked by Fox News Channel's Bret Baier whether his talk of annexing Canada is "a real thing" - as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently suggested - Trump replied, "Yeah it is."
"I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose 200 billion dollars (£161 billion) a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen," he said.
"Why are we paying 200 billion dollars a year, essentially a subsidy to Canada?"
The US is not subsidising Canada - it buys products from the natural resource-rich nation, including commodities such as oil. While the trade gap in goods has ballooned in recent years to 72 billion dollars (£58 billion) in 2023, the deficit largely reflects America's imports of Canadian energy.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada would be better off if it agreed to become the 51st US state - a prospect that is deeply unpopular among Canadians.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in person - something he said he was surprised to learn. "I thought it would be a good thing for the country to have the president at the game," he said.