The U.S. Department of Defense has halted participation in a joint defense advisory body with Canada that it has operated for 86 years. It cited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canada's failure to meet its defense commitments. Some analysts say this is a move to pressure Canada to purchase American fighter jets.
Elbridge Colby, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, said on the 18th (local time) on social media X, "Unfortunately, Canada has failed to show credible progress in fulfilling its defense commitments," and "the Department of Defense is suspending activities to reassess what benefits the Permanent Joint Board on Defense (PJBD) brings to North American joint defense."
Undersecretary Colby directly targeted Prime Minister Carney by attaching a link to his speech from the Davos Forum in Switzerland last January. He said, "We can no longer avoid the gap between rhetoric and reality," and "true great powers must back up their rhetorical expressions by taking responsibility for joint defense and security." This was aimed at Prime Minister Carney's statement in his speech, "We have largely avoided pointing out the gap between rhetoric and reality," in which he criticized the United States by saying that great powers seek to make neighboring countries subordinate by using tariffs as weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 35% tariffs on Canada and has faced opposition from Canada by making statements such as that Canada should be incorporated as the 51st state of the United States.
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Wow....what on earth is he trying to do?
