US official suggests removing Canada from Five Eyes intelligence alliance

A senior White House official has suggested removing Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network as Donald Trump steps up pressure on Canada, which he has spoken of making “the 51st state of the United States.”

According to the Financial Times (FT), Peter Navarro, one of the US president’s closest advisers, is pushing for the US to remove Canada from the Five Eyes network, which includes Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Trump has said he wants to annex Canada and promised to impose a 25% tariff on imports from the country when the one-month delay expires on March 4.

Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will step down on March 9, recently warned that Trump’s ambition to swallow the US northern neighbor was “a real thing.”

After the FT story was published, Navarro denied that he had suggested the idea, which he described as a “crazy thing.” “We would never jeopardize our national security with allies like Canada,” Navarro said.

Trump stunned US allies when he made Canada the first major target of tariffs along with Mexico, claiming Ottawa was not doing enough to stop migrants and drugs from entering the United States.

People familiar with the matter suggest that Navarro, who has easy access to the Oval Office due to his close relationship with Trump, has argued that the US should increase pressure on Canada and remove it from the Five Eyes.

It is not clear whether Trump is interested in this idea, but it is being discussed among his officials.

For decades, Five Eyes has been the world’s most important intelligence-sharing network. In addition to coordinating operations, the US and its allies share highly sensitive signals and human intelligence.

The CIA-run Pine Gap satellite station in central Australia, a prime location for gathering intelligence on China, is just one example of the close intelligence relationship.

Former CIA official Dennis Wilder, the top editor of the US president’s daily intelligence briefing, claims that Five Eyes is “by far the most successful intelligence-sharing arrangement in world history.”

He noted that the partnership originated during the Second World War, when American and British codebreakers worked together to break German secret communications, and was extended to other allies in 1956.

“Any breakdown in this decade of understanding would be greeted with applause by our enemies in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang,” Wilder said.

While Canada and New Zealand are the least intelligence-providing countries in the group, the removal of any member would draw criticism from other allies as well as intelligence officials in Washington and beyond.

One Five Eyes intelligence official said Canada’s removal from the decades-old network would be too dangerous. “From where I sit, looking at the threats coming at us, we need all the partners we can get,” the intelligence official said.

Phil Gurski, an analyst with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) between 2001 and 2015, said, “What’s the trigger? Yes, Canada is a smaller partner, but the alliance is effectively sharing very sensitive information, the alliance is working. So why should we be penalized? This looks like another White House tactic to put pressure on Canada for who knows what.”

Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon said Canada needs to understand that Trump is not “trolling” Trudeau and is serious about annexing the country.

Bannon argued that Canada lacks the resources to defend itself, especially at a time when China is trying to become an Arctic power.

But he added that any move to remove Canada from the Five Eyes would be counterproductive and damaging to the United States, saying, “Canada is in over its head. If you look at military history, they’ve been the best ally we’ve ever had.”