Neil Moss, The Hill Times

In media interviews since arriving in Ottawa, Hoekstra has said that Trump’s rhetoric around becoming the “51st” state is “behind us.”

But Trump once again put forward the notion of the US absorbing Canada in a May 27 social media post about his proposed missile defence system.

Hoekstra served as the top US diplomat in The Hague during Trump’s first term in the White House. That posting was not without controversy as he began it with a frosty relationship with the Dutch press when he was questioned over claims he had previously made and then denied making about “radical Islam” contributing to “no-go zones” in the country where politicians were “burned.”

“Having the ability to promote the president’s agenda one more time, I’m excited about it. And doing it in Canada is great,” he told The Hill Times, citing being from a border state and having family north of the border. “It’s a natural place for me to go.”