Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ offer has Canada, others unsure of $61B price tag
Global News
Canada does not know what it would cost to join U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed missile defence program, Defence Minister David McGuinty said Wednesday.
Canada does not know what it would cost to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence program, Defence Minister David McGuinty said Wednesday.
“I’m not in a position to evaluate the numbers. We’re going to bring a budget out in the fall, and when we bring a budget out we’ll have a lot more to say about what we’re going to do,” McGuinty said on his way into the weekly Liberal caucus meeting.
On Tuesday, in a social media post, Trump said it would cost Canada $61 billion to join as a sovereign country but nothing at all if it became a U.S. state.
Trump claimed that Canada is “considering the offer.”
When asked about Trump’s comments, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he won’t negotiate in public. He has previously said that Canada is considering whether to join the project.
Reacting to Trump’s missile defence pitch, Canada’s Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae said in a social media post that “in another context this would be called a ‘protection racket.'”
Mike Pompeo, who was U.S. secretary of state during the first Trump administration, said that’s not the case and it’s “imperative” that Canada and the U.S. work together on missile defence.
“To get this right for the American people will require deep connectivity with Canada, its defence establishment and the technology that both nations can provide,” Pompeo said during a Wednesday press event at the CANSEC defence industry conference in Ottawa.
