President Donald Trump says Canada has requested to join his $175 billion “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, but Canadian officials describe more measured discussions around continental defense cooperation.
“Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it,” Trump said Tuesday during his Oval Office announcement of the ambitious missile defense system. “They want to have protection also, so as usual, we help Canada.”
The president added that pricing negotiations with Canada are already underway. “We are dealing with them on pricing. They know about it very much,” Trump said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office offers a more restrained characterization of the talks. In a statement, the PMO says Carney and his ministers are engaged in broader security discussions with American counterparts.
“These discussions naturally include strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome,” the statement said, without confirming whether Canada specifically requested to join the initiative.
When asked about potential financial commitments, Canadian officials declined to specify how much Canada might invest in the project.
The Golden Dome project, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome but vastly larger in scale, aims to create a comprehensive missile defense shield capable of intercepting attacks from “the other side of the world, or from space,” according to Trump.
Trump has selected Space Force General Michael Guetlein to lead the program, which he claims will be operational before his term ends in 2029.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the system could cost between $161 billion and $542 billion over two decades, significantly higher than Trump’s $175 billion projection.
The Liberal government’s election platform committed to more than $18 billion in defense spending, which policy experts say would put Canada on track to exceed NATO’s spending target by 2030.
Chinese officials have condemned the Golden Dome announcement, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning calling it a project with “strong offensive nature” that could heighten “space militarization” and trigger an arms race.
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