The administration of President Donald Trump has announced the termination of a key bilateral defence agreement with Canada. The program, which had existed for more than 80 years, covered close integration of air defence systems, joint military planning, and mutual defence support.
The decision was announced by a White House spokesperson, who cited Canada’s “systematic underfunding of its own armed forces and Ottawa’s excessive, unacceptable dependence on the American defence umbrella” as the reason for the withdrawal.
“Canada has for years taken advantage of American taxpayers’ generosity, spending significantly less on defence than it committed to within NATO. We no longer intend to subsidize a country that refuses to properly defend itself,” a senior Trump administration official stated.
According to NATO data, Canada has traditionally spent around 1.3–1.4% of GDP on defence, well below the 2% target. The American side has repeatedly emphasized that it is the United States that bears the primary burden of ensuring collective security on the North American continent, including through NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command).
The Canadian Prime Minister has yet to issue an official comment. Sources in Ottawa report that Washington’s decision came as a “complete surprise” to Canadian leadership and has caused serious concern within the government.
Relations between the United States and Canada in the defence sphere began to deteriorate following Trump’s return to the White House. During his election campaign, he repeatedly criticized Canadian allies for what he called an “unfair” distribution of the defence spending burden.
Experts note that the termination of this long-standing program may necessitate an urgent overhaul of the entire North American defense architecture, potentially including a weakening of early warning system integration and airspace monitoring.