Overview

• Speaking to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, President Donald Trump said Canada could receive the Golden Dome missile-defence shield for free if it joined the United States.
• Trump claimed a Canadian official recently sought inclusion in the Golden Dome program and said he suggested statehood as the path to coverage.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada would never become a U.S. state, reaffirming a position he underscored during this year's election campaign.
• U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said days earlier that the '51st state' conversation is not an active diplomatic agenda item.
• Trump also argued Canada is struggling under U.S. tariffs and asserted his trade policies are pulling investment south, echoing rhetoric he has used since first raising the statehood idea in December 2024.