Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary realizes not everyone is a fan of President-elect Donald Trump’s idea of making Canada the 51st state—so he proposed an “economic union” similar to the European Union. But that might be a hard sell for a president who once called himself “Mr. Brexit.”

O’Leary appeared on Fox News Friday morning to discuss Trump’s talk about absorbing Canada into the United States. O’Leary, who is Canadian, endorsed the plan, according to The Independent, calling it “something great.”

“If you figured out a way to put these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country on earth. The most powerful military on earth, the most powerful resources and no adversary anywhere would mess with it. That’s the prize,” O’Leary said.

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It’s not clear if Trump is joking about annexing Canada. People initially thought he was joking about buying Greenland during his first term, but it’s become clear that he is serious. On Thursday, Trump called for hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to lead Canada.

“I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles. I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada – You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’ He had no interest, but I think the people of Canada should start a DRAFT WAYNE GRETZKY Movement. It would be so much fun to watch!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Earlier this month, he complained about “[subsidizing] Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year” on Truth Social, and claimed “many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State.” Trump’s claim, however, is not accurate. In her interview with O’Leary, Fox News host Aishah Hasnie cited a poll result that only 13% of Canadians want their country to become a new state.

O’Leary dismissed the poll and said that Canada didn’t necessarily need to become one of the United States.

“You don’t have to sell or merge the country but create a union where you put together the things that matter: a common currency, a common passport, free-flowing trade across the border, particularly in energy,” O’Leary said.

What he’s describing here is basically the European Union. Though the countries in the EU are independent, they share a currency—the euro—and citizens can travel freely throughout member countries. Trade is also open—but regulated by the EU, which attempts to balance individual countries’ concerns.

It’s this last bit that proved problematic for the Brexiteers in the United Kingdom. Countries in the EU have a principle called “primacy of European Union laws,” meaning EU regulations trump local countries’. EU law, though, is primarily concerned with trade and product regulations. And that’s one of the reasons Trump, in 2016, backed Brexit, even going as far as to call himself “Mr. Brexit.”

“Come November, the American people will have the chance to re-declare their independence. Americans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first,” Trump said at the time, according to CNN. “They will have the chance to reject today’s rule by the global elite, and to embrace real change that delivers a government of, by and for the people.”

Would “Mr. Brexit” be on board for his own North American Union? It seems unlikely.

Image via Shutterstock

On Tuesday, Denmark earmarked $1.5 billion in defense spending for Greenland after incoming President Donald Trump again made overtures to buy the autonomous territory.

The exact amount of defense funding for Greenland is not known, but the BBC reports that Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced it as in the “double digit million” amount of krone, which would place the minimum U.S. dollar equivalent at $1.5 billion.

The money is likely to be used to increase the amount of military personnel at Arctic Command and one of the country’s airports, the BBC reported, as well as to purchase two ships, two long-range drones and two dog sled teams.

Poulsen said the deal had been pre-planned, and the timing of Trump’s comments was merely “irony.”

READ MORE: Donald Trump Isn’t the First President to Try to Buy Greenland

Trump has suggested that the U.S. should purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory owned by Denmark. It was an occasional topic during his first term as well, though most thought the president was joking, at least initially.

Trump’s current interest was first declared on Sunday when he announced Ken Howery will be the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. He declared that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” in the announcement.

On Monday evening, RNC Chair Michael Whatley discussed with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade the potential price of such a deal, according to Mediaite.

“Well, I think from a national security perspective, as he said, certainly [it’s] a place that is very rich in minerals and is, uh, you know, geopolitically important for him,” Whatley said. “And it’s a conversation that we wanna have with Denmark about being able to use the resources up there.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna cost about $1.5 trillion, but it probably will pay off,” Kilmeade responded.

While Kilmeade has placed a price tag on Greenland, it is unlikely Denmark would agree to sell. Denmark has repeatedly declined offers to buy the territory. Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede invoked the country’s desire for independence in shutting down Trump’s overtures.

“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Egede said Monday, according to Reuters.

Greenland passed a law in 2009 which gave the territory more power to self-govern. Part of that law includes a provision for independence if the citizens vote for it. However, Greenland currently gets a block grant from Denmark that makes up one-quarter of the territory’s gross domestic product. If Greenland were to become fully independent, it would lose that money.

While citizens of the territory are in favor of independence, according to polling, just not at the expense of a drop in the standard of  living. In response to this, those fighting for independence have worked to diversify Greenland’s economy.

Image via Shutterstock

Mao Ning, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, called the United States a “safe haven for criminals” following the conviction of two Chinese nationals and a former NYPD sergeant for stalking a former Wuhan city official and his wife.

The ex-cop, Michael McMahon, was working as a private investigator with two Chinese men, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong. Zhu hired McMahon to track down the former official, who was living in New Jersey with his wife, according to the Department of Justice. When McMahon did, Zheng tried to force himself into their home, failed, and left a note reading “If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That’s the end of this matter!” prosecutors said.

China accused the former official, identified as Xu Jin by the Associated Press, of taking bribes. Xu and his wife deny this, and instead say that Chinese officials were going after him over disagreements with the Chinese Communist Party.

READ MORE: Warmongering GOP Congressman Declares China Spy Balloon a ‘Sputnik Moment’ for America

Xu was a target of China’s “Operation Fox Hunt,” launched in 2014. China says that the initiative is to bring criminals living overseas to justice, as it doesn’t have extradition treaties with other nations. Operation Fox Hunt is an attempt to find corrupt officials as part of the country’s efforts to stop graft.

“No matter where they have fled and how long … we must track them down and bring them to justice,” Huang Shuxian, a senior party disciplinary inspection official, told the official Xinhua News Agency when Operation Fox Hunt was first launched.

Critics, however, say it’s more about silencing dissent, and that Operation Fox Hunt works extrajudicially. Last year, a Chinese national was charged in Manhattan Federal Court over a case where a pregnant U.S. citizen was detained in China for eight months in an attempt to get her mother to face charges in China.

Speaking about Tuesday’s convictions, Mao said that Operation Fox Hunt was “fully justified.”

“The need to fight cross-border crimes, repatriate corrupt fugitives and recover illegal proceeds is widely recognized by the international community. It is a just cause,” she said. “The US, on the other hand, has chosen to ignore the facts, deliberately distorted China’s efforts as something sinister and even resorted to judicial action. China firmly opposes this.

“We urge the US to immediately right its wrongdoing, fulfill its obligations under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the UN Convention against Corruption and other international treaties, step up to its international responsibilities and stop America from turning into a safe haven for criminals,” she continued.

The three have not been sentenced yet. McMahon could get up to 20 years in prison on charges of acting as an illegal agent of China, interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. Zheng could get 10 years following his conviction for interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. Zhu could get 25 years for acting as an illegal Chinese agent, conspiracy to act as an illegal Chinese agent, interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking.