Donald Trump wants to protect the United States from ballistic and hypersonic missiles with a “Golden Dome,” and Canada, officially, wants in. The details of the program and Canada’s role are still to be determined, but Trump says the total cost will be $175 billion (the Congressional Budget Office says more) and the project will be completed by the end of his term. Experts wonder whether such a defense system is even possible, given the technological difficulty of intercepting ICBMs and space-based launches. But the US president says Canada will pay its “fair share.”
Canada is reportedly integrating the dome talks into broader negotiations about trade and security. And it has some leverage — money, for starters, but also land on which to base missile detection equipment and over which to shoot down projectiles.
Trump has long maligned Canada for being a laggard on defense spending. Participating in the Golden Dome could serve to rehabilitate that image a bit, and nudge trade negotiations in the right direction. But joining the program could face opposition in Canada, especially after the Liberals have spent months bashing the Trump administration as unreliable partners and threats to Canadian sovereignty.