Trump’s latest comments come as China, North Korea, Russia say the Golden Dome missile defence system will create ‘space arms race’.
United States President Donald Trump says he has told Canada it will have to pay $61bn to be part of his proposed Gold Dome missile defence system “if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation”.
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump claimed Canada “very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System” and would gain free access if it joins with the US.
Participating in the proposed defence system would cost Canada “ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State”, Trump said, adding, “They are considering the offer!”
Trump’s post came just hours after Canada’s parliament hosted the UK’s King Charles III for a rare royal speech in which the monarch emphasised Canada’s sovereignty in “dangerous and uncertain” times, and amid the US president’s exhortations for the country to become part of the US.
Following the king’s speech, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Canadian Public broadcaster CBC that he hopes Canada will join ReArm Europe by July 1, in an effort to reduce dependence on the US for weapons.
Canada did not immediately respond to Trump’s latest comment, but Carney has previously confirmed his country has held “high-level” talks on the defence system issue with the US.
Funding, timeline uncertain
In total, Trump has claimed the Golden Dome system will cost some $175bn and would be completed by the end of his current term in 2029, although defence industry experts have questioned the feasibility of this timeline and budget.
Trump is hoping to secure an initial $25bn funding for the system through the sweeping “Big, Beautiful Bill” which is next to go up for a vote in the Senate after narrowly passing the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives last week.
The bill boosts spending on the military and border enforcement while cutting funding for social programmes, including Medicaid and food assistance that helped tens of millions of low-income Americans.
The Golden Dome is modelled after Israel’s Iron Dome, which also receives significant funding from the US, including $500m per year for its upkeep.
It is unclear how Trump would scale up the Iron Dome to cover the entire US, since Israel is only about the size of New Jersey, one of the smaller states in the US.
The Iron Dome is also designed to target short-range missiles, with a range of 1,000km (about 620 miles), while the main threat to the US would likely come from long-range ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
Golden Dome will create ‘space arms race’
China, North Korea and Russia have all criticised Trump’s plan to put weapons in space, which the US president described in detail for the first time last week.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs swiftly responded, with spokeswoman Mao Ning saying the plan “heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security”.
“The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country’s security should come at the expense of others,” Mao Ning said.
North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also responded, saying the US is “hell-bent on the moves to militarise outer space”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the Golden Dome project undermines the foundations of “strategic stability” as it involves the creation of a global missile defence system.
According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, Zakharova said developing the Golden Dome would also lead to development of the “means of pre-launch missile destruction and infrastructure that ensures their use”.
“This is already a literal manifestation of the US’s highly dangerous doctrinal course toward delivering so-called preventive, but essentially first strikes,” she said, warning it would turn space into a “weaponised environment” and an “arena of armed confrontation”.