ANKARA, Turkiye — Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump has succeeded in pushing Canada and European allies to spend more on defence, arguing that NATO members increasingly recognize the security threats they face.
Carney said he spoke with Trump on Sunday before both leaders arrived at the NATO summit in Ankara and told him that defence spending by Canada and NATO’s European members has been rising in response to persistent U.S. pressure and growing concerns about Russian aggression.
“It’s not just that he’s winning the argument — he’s won the argument,” Carney said on Wednesday. “Countries realize they need to take more responsibility. They see the direct threats.”
He said Trump’s goal has been to shift a greater share of the alliance’s defence burden onto European allies and Canada.
“The president is looking for a shift of the burden within NATO. That’s appropriate,” Carney said. “That is happening. It is gaining momentum.”
Carney said he delivered that message during a phone call with Trump on Sunday night.
“The president is here and he’s in a good mood,” Carney told reporters as he entered the summit.
Carney supports U.S. strikes on Iran
He also said he supports resumed American strikes on Iran.
“Iran attacked multiple times” its targets in Qatar and Saudi Arabia during the ceasefire period, said the prime minister, who called the U.S. strikes an “appropriate” response. Canada hopes the countries involved move to reinstate the ceasefire, he also said in French.
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO for not doing more to support his military efforts in Iran.
“I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran. They were unwilling to help us,” said Trump Wednesday. He also said he was unhappy with the alliance because of “what they did with Greenland” – the semiautonomous Danish territory coveted by the U.S. president.
Speaking about ongoing negotiations with Iran, Trump called negotiators for that country “scum” and said he didn’t want to deal with them.
“You know what scum is? They’re scum, they’re sick people, they’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people,” said the president. However, he says he will allow his negotiators to keep talking with their Iranian counterparts.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars. We make a deal, and if I make a deal with him, we have a deal. He goes out, he talks. We make a deal. Everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapons. We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it, is something wrong with them? They’re cuckoo.”
Canada’s military spending
Speaking later with Canadian reporters, Carney said this week’s announcement of a new submarine procurement program had already been incorporated into the government’s fiscal plan and that all new defence spending would be detailed in the upcoming federal budget.
“That will not have an impact on the budget because the money has already been set aside,” Carney said.
The submarine announcement is part of a broader package of defence investments unveiled this week, including:
- An agreement in principle with Telesat to use its Lightspeed satellite constellation for secure military communications in the Arctic;
- an approximately $800-million Joint Strike Missiles contract with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace for Canada’s future fighter aircraft; and
- a revised procurement process to acquire between 1,600 and 2,100 light utility vehicles and up to 500 trailers from Canadian suppliers.
“We have some catch-up to do, without question,” Carney said. “When I came into government, we were spending 1.4 per cent of GDP on defence. By the NATO definition, before the end of this decade, we will be spending four per cent.”
Canada also announced an extension of the Canadian mission in Latvia for another two years, until 2031, with the possibility of more soldiers serving there.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also credited Trump with driving the alliance’s push for higher defence spending.
“President Trump has been able to finally get done what, since Eisenhower, American presidents tried to do, which was to equalize defence spending between Europe and the United States,” Rutte said in opening remarks at the summit.
Rutte stressed that the alliance remains united in its commitment to collective defence.
“My message is that this alliance of one billion people living in Europe, living in Canada, living in the United States, will defend every inch of our territory,” he said. “You cannot win from NATO. We are defensive. We will never attack anyone. We will only defend our way of life, our democracies, our territory. So don’t fool with us, don’t play with us.”
