The next stop on Donald Trump’s world tour — or takeover — could be America’s northern neighbor.
Two U.S. officials, a senior administration official and three former senior U.S. officials told NBC News that the 79-year-old president has turned his attention to Canada, focusing on vulnerabilities on Canada’s northern border that could be exploited by U.S. adversaries Russia or China.
“They certainly need to improve their Arctic capabilities,” one official told the outlet, adding that Canada’s northern border was “unacceptable given today’s threats” and that “the status quo is not enough.”
Trump calls British Prime Minister Mark Carney a
Trump has repeatedly complained about what he sees as Canada’s weak defenses, sparking conversations with Canadian officials about a broader Arctic security strategy, NBC reported. Initiatives that have piqued Trump’s interest include expanding U.S. maritime patrols and purchasing additional icebreakers — specialized vessels designed to operate in ice-covered waters — to operate in or around Canada.
“Trump is really concerned about America’s continued wobbling in the Western Hemisphere and is focused on that,” one official told NBC.
“Ultimately, this is about deterring further Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic,” they added.
Canada, with 3.85 million square miles of land and 40 million residents, is Trump’s biggest target on his growing list of potential land grabs.
The dialogue comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, a sign that the two countries are working to deepen ties. Carney became the first Canadian leader to visit China since 2017.
Trump has repeatedly complained about what he sees as Canada’s weak defenses. /Anna Money Tree/Getty Images
Aides say Trump’s focus on Canada is part of a broader effort to “consolidate” the Western Hemisphere and is consistent with his aggressive move to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
“Canada will benefit from the United States owning Greenland,” one government official said.
Carney on Friday expressed support for Denmark joining NATO and said Greenland, a country of about 57,000 residents located northeast of Canada, should decide its own future.
Trump’s increasingly frequent claims that “we absolutely need Greenland for defense purposes” have unsettled Denmark, whose leaders have repeatedly warned they will not abandon the world’s largest island and that a U.S. takeover would end NATO.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed on Saturday that under “the law” a country has no right to acquire its territory if it cannot defend it. Trump aides disparaged the Danish government, saying its “small” military failed to adequately protect Greenland.
“As far as Denmark is concerned, Denmark is a small country with a small economy and a small military,” Miller said of Fox. Hannity.
“They can’t defend Greenland. They can’t control the territory of Greenland. According to every understanding of territorial control laws for 500 years, to control a territory you have to be able to defend the territory, improve the territory, live in the territory. Denmark failed on every single one of those tests.”
Meanwhile, the White House has leveled similar criticism at Canada, which has increased defense spending but still falls short of NATO targets, officials told NBC.
“The world doesn’t view Canada as a major force when it comes to defence,” the official told NBC.
Trump has previously said it is “extremely unlikely” he would use force against Canada. But after his surprise invasion of Venezuela on January 3 and the kidnapping of then-President Nicolás Maduro, the president did not rule out deploying U.S. troops to countries including Colombia, U.S. allies Mexico and Greenland.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Carney’s representatives for comment.
