U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday aspects of his plan for a "Golden Dome" missile defence shield and said "it automatically makes sense" for Canada to be involved.
“Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it," Trump said. "So we'll be talking to them. They want to have protection also, so as usual we help Canada.”
The president claims the complex multilayered system will cost $175 billion and that it will be completed within his term, which ends in 2029. He said it will "deploy next generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors."
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Trump said the system will be able to intercept missiles launched from the other side of the world, or from space.
Trump campaigned on a plan to create a "Golden Dome," based on Israel's "Iron Dome" defence network — but some critics have said it would be too costly and too difficult to deploy over such a large land mass.
Despite Trump's cost claims, the Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this month that the space-based components of the program could alone cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.
Canada has been criticized by multiple U.S. administrations for not meeting the NATO membership defence spending target. Trump has repeatedly claimed the U.S. protects Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to hit that NATO target — the equivalent of two per cent of gross domestic product — by 2030. During a meeting with Carney at the White House earlier this month, Trump said "Canada is stepping up the military participation."
Trump said Tuesday his administration will work with Canada on "pricing" and "they’ll pay their fair share."
“We are dealing with them on pricing. They know about it very much," he said.
Canada and the United States already work together through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.
