The Topline
- Sources tell CBC News that Prime Minister Mark Carney is considering deploying Canadian troops to Greenland in a show of solidarity with Greenland and Denmark amid U.S. takeover threats
- The Canadians would join a group of NATO soldiers already deployed to Greenland from eight countries: Germany, Britain, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Finland
- In response, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened those eight countries with higher tariffs in retaliation for their support, rattling global stock markets
Switch sides,
back and forth
Don't poke the bear
Trump has never been a big fan of NATO, the longstanding military alliance in which countries agree to defend one another if any member is attacked.
In 2017, he called out other NATO countries for not spending enough on defence and insisted they “pay their fair share.” In 2025, he went further, saying , “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” raising concerns about whether the U.S. would honour its NATO commitments at all.
So you’re not wrong to think Trump doesn’t care that (1) Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark, (2) Denmark is a NATO member, and (3) his threats of annexation threaten NATO as a whole.
The situation leaves Carney in a pickle. If Canada deploys troops to Greenland alongside other NATO allies, it could face pushback from Trump, similar to the tariff threats he has already made against European countries that sent troops.
It could also complicate any upcoming trade talks with the Trump administration. Considering that roughly 70 per cent of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., now is not the best time to risk angering a president who holds major sway over the Canadian economy.
But the worst-case scenario is that it angers Trump just enough that he decides once Greenland is conquered, Canada’s next. Just this week, he posted a doctored image on social media showing Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela all replaced by an American flag.
That image is the literal writing on the wall.
If Ottawa wants to protect the interests of Canadians during an already fragile relationship with Washington, sending troops to Greenland is a bad idea that could make things worse.
It's our integrity at stake
It may seem like a dilemma, but it really isn’t. Carney has no choice but to send troops to Greenland.
We’re talking only about a small deployment, since the mission isn’t necessarily about defending Greenland from an attack, Canada’s former chief of the defence staff, Tom Lawson, told CBC News.
It’s largely a symbolic thing. Having Canadian boots on the ground alongside other NATO allies reinforces Canada’s support for Greenland’s sovereignty and demonstrates that Canada takes its NATO commitments seriously.
Bob Rae, Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations, told CBC News that Canada effectively has no choice but to participate, since it could be “next on the menu” when it comes to Trump’s ambitions. “Canada’s own integrity, and our own territorial sovereignty, are very much at stake,” he said.
Rae added that if Canada ever expects support from Europe in the future, it must be willing to support Greenland now, during its time of need.
Trump has justified his position by claiming Greenland cannot defend itself if Russia or China were to make a move in the Arctic. Carney, by contrast, has reiterated that Arctic security can be handled by NATO.
Add it all up, and the answer becomes clear. If Canada wants to protect its own interests in the Arctic, and if Carney truly believes NATO is capable of handling Arctic security, then Canada’s gotta show up when NATO needs it, whether Trump likes it or not.
