Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is considering options for investing in President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense program.
Mr. Carney said Wednesday at a press conference that high-level discussions are taking place that could see Canada play a key role in the development of Golden Dome.
“We have an ability, if we so choose, to complete the Golden Dome with investments in partnership. And it’s something that we are looking at, and something that has been discussed at a high level,” Mr. Carney said. “Is it a good idea for Canada? Well, it’s a good idea to have protection for Canadians and Canada.”
The prime minister did not go into detail about how much Canada would be willing to spend on Golden Dome.
Mr. Carney decidedly won last month’s Canadian general election on an anti-Trump platform. Since his victory, Mr. Carney has met with Mr. Trump in the White House and said he has discussed Golden Dome and other initiatives with the president several times.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday gave some of the first details about the proposed next-generation missile defense program. In an Oval Office speech, Mr. Trump tagged Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to lead the project and confirmed it would cost around $175 billion to complete.
International reactions to the proposal have rolled in since the announcement. On Wednesday, China said the system is highly aggressive and will disrupt the global order.
“This highly offensive system violates the principle of peaceful use of outer space,” Chinese Foreign Minister spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement. “It will exacerbate the risk of turning outer space into a battlefield and starting an arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system.”
