Trump says Canada ‘lives because of the US’ after Mark Carney rebukes Washington

DAVOS, Switzerland - US President Donald Trump accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of ingratitude for American military protection, firing back after Mr Carney used a Davos stage to urge mid-sized nations to band together against aggressive superpowers. 

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Jan 21, Mr Trump pointed out his

proposed Golden Dome missile shield

would also defend Canadian airspace. 

“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful also, but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful,” Mr Trump said. 

“Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Mr Carney’s speech on Jan 20 reverberated through the annual gathering of political and business elites.

He declared the

international rules-based order effectively dead

and argued the world has shifted to an era “where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion.”

He did not name Mr Trump, but he cited tactics closely associated with the US president – “tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited” – and urged countries to push back by building new forms of cooperation.

“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” he said. 

The remarks were especially striking given Canada’s long-standing economic integration and military cooperation with the US.

Mr Carney, 60, a former central banker, won office in 2025 with a pledge to reduce that dependence.

He has since signed a limited trade deal with China and begun to roll out billions in new defence spending.

Canada is considering investments in the Golden Dome system, which the US president has estimated at US$175 billion (S$224.86 billion) but a Bloomberg analysis found may cost as much as US$1.1 trillion.

The proposal – which contains unproven space-based technology – would protect the continent from threats including ballistic missiles, hypersonics and advanced cruise missiles. 

The two countries already jointly operate the North American Aerospace Defence Command, or Norad.

In 2022, Canada unveiled a C$38.6 billion (S$35.84 billion) plan to modernise the system.

That funding includes a new Australian-developed radar network to detect incoming missiles, announced by Mr Carney in March.

Canada has long leaned on the US for continental defence – especially in the Arctic, where Norad and US capabilities underpin much of the region’s security.

But the relationship has not been one-way.

Canada has followed the US into conflicts, including under the United Nations banner in the Korean War and in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001. 

More than 40,000 Canadian troops served in the Afghanistan mission; 158 died.

Mr Carney left the World Economic Forum on Jan 21 just as Mr Trump was arriving.

One of his final meetings was with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and a readout from Mr Carney’s office highlighted Canada’s plans to quadruple defence spending over a decade and bolster Arctic security.

The release also signalled a united front on Greenland, as Mr Trump continues to argue the US must control the Arctic island.

Mr Rutte and Mr Carney reaffirmed their support for Denmark’s sovereignty, stressing that any decisions about Greenland’s future are for Greenland and Denmark to make. BLOOMBERG