A senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump says there is no truth to a media report saying he wants to expel Canada out of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing partnership.
Peter Navarro, assistant to the president and director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, made the comments in Washington on Feb. 25 in reaction to an anonymously sourced report from the Financial Times published earlier that day.
The media report said Navarro sought to increase pressure on Canada as Trump talks about turning Canada into the 51st U.S. state. The report did not mention exactly what the pressure would seek to achieve.
“We would never, ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada, ever. So please stop doing that,” Navarro said. He added that the report is a “product of a culture in the media where they report stories and never name their sources.”
In reaction to Navarro’s comments, the journalist who wrote the article said on social media that the publication stands by the reporting, adding that “Navarro did not respond to multiple requests for comment before we published.”
The Five Eyes intelligence alliance is composed of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The pact dates back to the time of World War II and allows respective governments to exchange and access a large quantity of intelligence collected by the various agencies such as the CIA, the U.S. National Security Agency, the British MI6, and military and police forces.
Canada has been described as a “net importer” of intelligence by current and former security officials, whereas the United States has the most sophisticated and far-reaching intelligence collection capacity.
Canada has been under pressure from Trump for months to reinforce its border and fight against drugs like fentanyl.
A first round of tariffs linked to those issues imposed by Trump on Feb. 3 has been put on a 30-day pause as the White House assesses the measures put in place by Canada to bolster the border and crack down on drug trafficking.
Along with threatening to impose tariffs, Trump has repeatedly spoken about making Canada the 51st state since winning the election, saying it would benefit from lower taxes and increased military protection. Trump had first mentioned Canada as a U.S. state when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Mar-a-Lago in late November to discuss the tariff threat linked to the border.
Addressing the issue recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump made the remark after Trudeau said at Mar-a-Lago that Canada would “cease to exist” if the United States imposes steep tariffs.
Trudeau has said that during the meeting, after Trump’s 51st state, Trudeau jokingly said that there could be a “trade for Vermont or California for certain parts,” after which he said the topic was quickly dropped.
Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair has said Trump’s comments are “concerning” but do not pose a “real threat.”
Emel Akan contributed to this report.