Former Australian PM Turnbull calls Trump’s annexation threat to Canada ‘baffling’

In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during his final press conference before leaving Parliament in Canberra. (AP Photo/Andrew Taylor, File)

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is calling U.S. President Donald Trump’s persistent annexation threat to Canada “baffling.”

“I do not understand why there has been this bullying and trolling of Canada,” Turnbull said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday. “I think it’s baffling to everyone around the world.”

Since late last year, Trump has mused about Canada becoming the 51st state and referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor.” Trudeau even eventually described the threat as a “real thing,” while Canadian officials on all levels and sides of the aisle have pushed back against the notion.

“It would be a joke if it wasn’t so serious,” Turnbull said. “I’m really glad to see the Canadian leaders being so forthright and standing up so strongly against it.”

Turnbull — who served as Australia’s prime minister between 2015 and 2018 — has his own experience in dealing with Trump. During Trump’s first term in office, the two had an infamous phone call in which they argued over a refugee-swap deal that had been made between Australia and the previous Obama administration.

During the call, Trump described his conversation with Turnbull as “ridiculous,” while calling a separate exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin “pleasant.”

Speaking to host Vassy Kapelos, Turnbull pointed to this moment, saying: “Mr. Trump does have a temper.”

“Canadians understand this probably better than anybody, that with President Trump in his second term, we are all having to come to terms with a very different America,” Turnbull said.

Amid ongoing annexation threats, allies have seemingly been reluctant to come to Canada’s defence.

In a visit to the White House on Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to weigh in on the issue when asked directly by reporters.

“I think you’re trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist,” Starmer said.

Starmer also presented Trump with an invitation from King Charles III — who is Canada’s Head of State — to attend an unprecedented second state visit.

Asked about the invite amid Trump’s annexation threat, Buckingham Palace sent a brief statement to CTV News, saying: “This is not something we would comment on.”

When asked by Kapelos about the tepid response from Canada’s allies, Turnbull said democratic countries that have common values “have to do more to work together.”

“We have to look to our security as a mesh between democratic countries and not simply as going via Washington, because we know Washington is different,” he said.

Canada is a ‘staunch ally’ to Five Eyes network

Like Canada, Australia is part of the British Commonwealth and part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which also includes the United Kingdom, the U.S. and New Zealand.

Earlier this week, The Financial Times reported that Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro was “pushing for the U.S. to remove Canada” from the alliance to increase pressure on Canada, a claim Navarro denied after the story was published.

Asked about the reported move, Turnbull said: “I don’t get it.”

“There is some agenda in Washington that I do not understand, in the Trump administration to seek to intimidate, bully Canada,” Turnbull said.

The former Australian prime minister also called Canada a “staunch ally.”

“(The Five Eyes has) been an operation pretty much since the Second World War. It’s very, very tight, and it benefits all the parties to it, including the United States,” Turnbull said. “So, what possible benefit would it be for the United States to chuck a trusted partner out of the Five Eyes?”

You can catch the full interview with former Australian prime minister Malcom Turnbull on CTV Question Period this Sunday at 11ET/8PT.