Ottawa planned for the possibility despite Donald Trump explicitly ruling out force as Canada moves to deepen defense ties with Europe<\/p>\n
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has revealed that his government carefully examined the possibility of US-led military action against his country, despite President Donald Trump having ruled out using force against America\u2019s northern neighbor.
\nIn an interview with the New York Times published on Wednesday, Carney described such a scenario as an \u201cextreme tail risk\u201d \u2013 an event considered highly unlikely but serious enough to warrant contingency planning.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s just risk management,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cit would be irresponsible not to [prepare].\u201d Carney declined to discuss what that preparation involved.
\nTrump has repeatedly floated making Canada the 51st US state but explicitly ruled out using military force to achieve it, stating in January 2025 that he would apply \u201ceconomic force\u201d instead.
\nThe US president has long accused Ottawa of unfair trade practices, particularly on dairy and automobiles, and has imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian goods since early 2025. Washington escalated the dispute in August 2026 with additional 50% duties on a range of Canadian products.<\/p>\n
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Carney\u2019s disclosure comes just days after he traveled to the EU to deepen ties with the bloc.
\nAddressing the European Parliament last week, Carney argued that economic integration was increasingly being \u201cweaponized,\u201d with tariffs used as leverage and supply-chain dependencies exploited as vulnerabilities \u2013 remarks widely seen as an implicit reference to Washington\u2019s economic pressure on Ottawa.
\nDefense was also part of Carney\u2019s 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 \u201cstrategic autonomy.\u201d
\nThat cooperation is already taking shape through the EU\u2019s \u20ac150 billion ($170 billion) SAFE defense procurement program, in which Canada has become the first non-European country to participate. The initiative is part of Brussels\u2019 wider militarization under its Readiness 2030 strategy, aimed at countering an alleged threat from Russia \u2013 something Moscow has repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n
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Ottawa is also seeking closer ties with 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 grouping that complements NATO and operates primarily across the Arctic, North Atlantic, and Baltic regions \u2013 key parts of the bloc\u2019s northern flank, which stretches toward Russia\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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