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A senior White House official has proposed Canada’s expulsion from the five intelligence division network as Donald Trump increases the pressure on the place he talks about returning to the 51st US state.
Peter Navarro, one of the US president’s closest advisers, is pressuring SH.BA to remove Canada from five eyes – which also includes the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand – according to people known with his efforts inside administration.
Trump has said he wants to annex Canada and has pledged to move forward with 25 percent of imports from the country when a month back on March 4.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will withdraw from his post on March 9, was recently caught in an open germ, warning that Trump’s ambition to absorb the northern US neighbor was a “real thing”.
Navarro did not respond to requests for comment. After first published the ft article, Navarro denied postponing the idea, which he said was “crazy things”. “We would never risk our national security… With allies like Canada,” Navarro said.
The White House did not respond to a comment request. Trudeau’s office refused to comment.
Trump shocked us allies when he made Canada his first major tariff target, along with Mexico, claiming that Ottawa was not doing enough to stop migrants and drugs from entering the US
People familiar with the situation said Navarro, who has an easy access to the Oval Office because of his close relationship with Trump, is arguing that the US should increase the pressure on Canada by expelling the country from five eyes.
It is unclear if the idea has gained withdrawal with Trump but it is being discussed among its officials.
The five eyes have been the most important network for dividing intelligence in the world for decades. The US and its allies share extremely sensitive signals and human intelligence in addition to coordinating operations. The CIA -led pine satellite station in Central Australia, which is the most important place to collect intelligence for China, is just an example of intimate intelligence relationship.
Dennis Wilder, a former CIA official who was the senior editor of the US President’s daily intelligence conference, said the five eyes were “so far the most successful arrangement of division of intelligence in world history”.
He noted that the partnership emerged when US and British codes worked together to disrupt German secret communications during World War II, and expanded to include other allies in 1956.
“Anydo disruption in these old decades would meet with cheers from our opponents in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang,” Wilder said.
While the New Zealand and Zealand provide the least group intelligence, the expulsion of each member would arouse criticism from other allies and also from intelligence officials in Washington and beyond.
A five -eyed intelligence official said Canada’s expulsion from the Old Decade Network would be very dangerous.
“Sitting where I am sitting and seeing a series of threats coming to us, we need all the partners we can get,” the intelligence official said.
Phil Gurski, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CIS) from 2001-2015, said: “What is pushing this? Yes, Canada is the smallest partner but the alliance is effectively sharing very sensitive information , The alliance is working.
“This seems a more tactic of the White House to put pressure on Canada for God knows what?” he added.
Steve Bannon, the former White House Strategy who helped Trump win in 2016, said Canada had to realize that Trump was not Trolling Trolling Trolleu but was serious to want to annex the country.
He said Canada lacked resources to defend especially as China tries to become a Arctic power. But he said any action to expel Canada from the five eyes would be a counter-productive action that would simply end up hurting America.
“Canada punches the road over their weight. If you look at the military history, they have been the best ally we had, ”Bannon said.
Navarro served as the White House trade adviser in Trump’s first administration. Last year, he suffered several months in prison for refusing testimony before the Congress Commission investigates the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. His views on trade have long been in synchronous with Trump, who sometimes calls him “my Peter” and named him in December as an old counselor for trade and production.
CIS approached for comment.
Additional reporting by Ilya Gridneff in Toronto
