Amidst all the Greenland deal talk, President Donald Trump is privately intensifying his focus on Canada, arguing in recent weeks that Ottawa is vulnerable to Russian and Chinese encroachment in the Arctic and needs to spend more on defense, according to multiple current and former US officials familiar with the discussions cited by NBC News.
Officials describe the shift as accelerating internal work on a broader Arctic strategy and raising the prospect of an agreement with Canada this year to fortify the northern border.
“Trump is really worried about the US continuing to drift in the Western Hemisphere and is focused on this,” one official summarized, according to NBC News, tying Canada to the same strategic anxieties driving the administration’s Greenland push.
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There is no discussion of putting American troops on the ground along Canada’s northern border, and they draw a bright line versus Greenland by saying Trump is not seeking to purchase Canada or threatening to take it by military force.
That distinction is reinforced by Trump’s own prior language, with NBC’s reporting citing his “Meet the Press” comment that it is “highly unlikely” he would use force to take over Canada.
The private Canada focus is described as landing inside a broader pattern of converting long-running neighbor critiques into actions aimed at expanding US power, including the claim that the US military helped oust Venezuela’s leader and enabled a US takeover of the country’s oil industry. This is on top of threats toward Cuba and warnings to Colombia and Mexico tied to drug flows.
In that context, Trump is presented as treating Greenland as an Arctic anchor that would also help Canada.
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“At the end of the day, this is to stop Russia and China from having a further presence in the Arctic,” an administration official said, adding, “Canada stands to benefit from the US having Greenland.”
The reporting places added weight on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Beijing trip last week, described as the first Canadian prime minister visit to China since 2017, including a Friday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Carney referencing a “new world order” while seeking stronger China ties amid US tensions.
Asked about Canada pursuing a trade deal with China, Trump publicly called it “a good thing,” saying: “That’s what he should be doing,” and “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.” 
A recurring Trump complaint, repeated privately in recent days, is that Canada’s defense spending is too low for the Arctic threat picture, with officials pointing to Canada still falling short of NATO’s target and arguing Canada must up their game because “the status quo is not enough.”
Officials also describe Trump expressing interest in buying more icebreakers to expand maritime patrol capacity, positioning that as a potential line item in next year’s defense budget tied to Arctic security.
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