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When Donald Trump increased pressure on him to become the 51st state in the United States, a top White House official proposed deportation of Canada’s five-eye intelligence sharing network.
According to people familiar with his efforts within the administration, Peter Navarro, one of the U.S. president’s closest advisers, is also urging the U.S. to remove Canada from five eyes.
Trump said he wanted to annex Canada and vowed to impose a 25% tariff on the country’s imports on a month-long probation on March 4.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will resign from his office on March 9, was recently warned by an open microphone that warned that it was “real” for Trump to absorb the ambitions of his neighbors in the north of the United States.
Navarro did not respond to a request for comment. After the FT article was first published, Navarro denied pushing the idea, saying it was “crazy stuff.” “We will never endanger our national security … with allies like Canada,” Navarro said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Trudeau’s office declined to comment.
Trump shocked our allies as he joined Mexico to make Canada the first big target of tariffs, claiming that Ottawa is not doing enough to stop immigrants and drugs from entering the United States.
People familiar with the situation say that Navarro has easily entered the Oval Office due to his close relationship with Trump, and he believes the United States should increase pressure on Canada by expelling five eyes.
It is unclear whether the idea has attracted attention with Trump, but is being discussed among his officials.
For decades, Five Eyes have been the most important intelligence-sharing network in the world. In addition to coordinated operations, the United States and its allies have extremely sensitive signals and human intelligence. The loose satellite station in central Australia led by the CIA, the most important location for collecting intelligence about China, is just an example of intimate intelligence relations.
Former CIA official Dennis Wilder, the top editor of the daily intelligence briefing of the U.S. president, said the Five Eyes are “the most successful intelligence-sharing arrangement in world history to date.” He noted that when the U.S. and British regulations broke German secret communications together during World War II, this partnership emerged and expanded to other allies in 1956.
“In this decade of understanding, any interference will meet the cheers of our opponents in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang,” Wilder said.
While Canada and New Zealand provide the least intelligence in the group, the expulsion of any member will spark criticism from other allies as well as Washington intelligence officials.
A five-eyed intelligence official said it would be very dangerous to expel Canada from decades of networks.
“Sit where I sit and look at the upcoming threat array, we need all the partners we can get,” intelligence officials said.
Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist who helped Trump win in 2016, said Canada needs to realize that Trump is not trolling in Trudeau, but is serious about annexation The country.
He said Canada lacks the resources to defend itself, especially when China tries to become an Arctic force. But he said that any move to expel Canada from five eyes is counterproductive and will ultimately hurt the United States.
“Canada is beyond their weight. If you look at military history, they are the best ally we have,” Bannon said.
Navarro served as White House trade adviser in the first Trump administration. Last year, he was sentenced to months in jail for refusing to testify before a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His perception of trade has been in sync with Trump, who sometimes referred to him as “my Peter” and named him in December a senior adviser to trade and manufacturing.
Contacted Canadian security intelligence services.
Other reports by Ilya Gridneff in Toronto
