A Canadian minister said that US President-elect, Donald Trump, was joking when he suggested that Canada become the 51st state in the United States, during a dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Fox News reported that Trump made these statements in response to Trudeau's growing concerns that the tariffs that Trump threatens to impose on Canadian goods will harm the Canadian economy.

Public Safety Minister Dominique LeBlanc, who attended Trump's dinner on Friday at Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club, said that Trump's statements were a joke, according to what was reported by the Associated Press.

LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa, “The president was telling jokes. The president was joking with us. “This was about this issue, of course, and it was not a serious comment at all.”

LeBlanc described the meeting as a three-hour social evening at the president's residence in Florida on the long weekend of Thanksgiving. He added: “The conversation was friendly and funny.”

The Canadian minister described relations as good and friendly, and said that the fact that “the president was joking in this way with us” indicates good relations.