‘We do not need Canada,’ says U.S. Ambassador during Montreal visit

U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra speaks to CJAD 800 Radio on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (CJAD 800/YouTube)

The U.S. ambassador to Canada, Peter Hoekstra, repeated during his stop in Montreal on Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States doesn’t need Canada.

Hoekstra sat down with CJAD 800 Radio to discuss the bilateral relationship and Canadians’ attitude toward their southern neighbour.

“Sometime this summer or sometime hopefully this fall, we will have a new outline of how we do business together,” he said in the interview. “And those relationships that we have put in place, whether those will foster and grow or whether Canadian companies and American companies will go their separate ways because of the decisions that are made by their governments.”

Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are about to begin a mandatory review process for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

• Watch the full interview with CJAD 800 below.

• Listen on CJAD 800: ‘We do not need Canada’: U.S. Ambassador to Canada discusses relations between countries