Radio-Canada is reporting today that U.S. President Donald Trump used the term “51st state” during his March 28 call with Mark Carney, who told reporters later that day that the U.S. president “respected Canadian sovereignty” during the call.

The U.S. president suggested again yesterday at the White House that Canada would be better off as a U.S. state.

When asked if Trump made 51st state comments during the call, Carney said yes: “The president brings this up all the time.”

“The president has certain things in his mind that he reverts back to all the time, but he treated me as the prime minister, not as something else,” he said, in reference to Trump’s habit of calling former prime minister Justin Trudeau governor.