If Donald Trump wants to make Canada part of the U.S., as he jokingly suggested last week to Canada’s prime minister, he’ll have an ally on the Democratic left. But with a price.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an acknowledged socialist, said he’d welcome America’s northern neighbor into the union along with the president-elect if the Canucks were to bring their health-care system here.

“Does that mean that we can adopt the Canadian health care system and guarantee health care to all, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and spend 50% less per capita on health care?” he asked on X, responding to a news report on Mr. Trump trolling proposal.

“I’m all for it,” said Mr. Sanders, who long has been a champion of Canadian-style socialized medicine.

When Mr. Trump made his perhaps-trolling proposal last week to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the context of a discussion of tariffs, he was “warned” about Canada exporting left-wing politics to the U.S.

Someone else at the table, whom Fox News did not identify in its initial report, noted that Canada would be a deep-blue state that would probably elect liberals and leftists. Were it a U.S. state, Canada would be the most populous, though only slightly ahead of California.

When that got a big laugh, Mr. Trump downplayed such an Electoral College “threat.”

“Trump suggested that Canada could possibly become two states: a conservative and a liberal one,” Fox News wrote.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.