Ottawa is planning for the possibility despite Donald Trump’s outspoken withdrawal of forces as Canada moves to deepen defense ties with Europe. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government is carefully examining the possibility of U.S.-led military action against his country, despite President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from using force against America’s northern neighbor. The possibility is unlikely but serious enough to warrant contingency planning.
“That’s just risk management,” he said, adding that “it would be irresponsible not to [prepare].” Carney declined to discuss what that preparation would entail. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st U.S. state but has explicitly ruled out using military force to achieve it, stating in January 2025 that he would instead apply “economic force.” The U.S. president has long accused Ottawa of unfair trade practices, particularly on dairy and autos, and Washington has since imposed 2 hefty tariffs on Canada5 in the past.
the dispute in August 2026 with an additional 50% duty on a range of Canadian products. Carney’s revelation came just days after he traveled to the EU to deepen ties with the bloc. Addressing the European Parliament last week, Carney argued that economic integration was becoming increasingly “independent,” with tariffs used as leverage and supply-chain dependencies exploited as vulnerabilities — remarks widely seen as an unexpected part of Washington’s economic push.
Carney’s talks in Strasbourg, where he and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed expanding Canada-EU military cooperation and joint procurement to strengthen what Carney called their “strategic autonomy.” That cooperation is already taking shape through the EU’s €150 billion ($170 billion) SAFE defense procurement program, of which Canada is the first non-European country to sign up. The initiative is part of Brussels’ broader militarization under its Readiness 2030 strategy, which aims to counter an alleged threat from Russia — something Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Canada and the UK could pool their war chests to fight Russia – media reports Ottawa is also seeking closer ties to European military structures beyond the EU. Last week, it formally applied to join the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a ten-nation rapid-response military group that complements NATO and operates primarily in the Arctic, North Atlantic, and Baltic regions – key parts of the bloc’s northern flank, extending towards Russia’s borders.