President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday he doesn’t think the president has “any plans to invade Canada.”
His remarks follow multiple reports that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a closed-door meeting of business leaders last week that the Trump administration “keep[s] talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state.”
On Sunday, Waltz added that many Canadians “do not like the last 10 years of liberal, progressive governance in Trudeau.”
“Really, what you’re seeing is a reassertion of American leadership in the Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic all the way down to the Panama Canal,” Waltz said in an interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, adding: “And that’s what we’re talking about, from Greenland, to Arctic security to the Panama Canal coming back under the United States. America has avoided our own hemisphere — where we have the energy, the food and the critical minerals — for way too long, and you’re seeing a reassertion of President Trump’s leadership.”
In the weeks before he was inaugurated to this second term, Trump spoke about his plans to annex Greenland and regain control of the Panama Canal, something Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke about when visiting Panama last week.
Asked whether his push to make Canada the 51st state is a "real thing" during a taped interview with Fox News' “Special Report” that aired ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump said, "Yeah, it is."
"I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state, because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen. It's too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they're a 51st state, I don't mind doing it," he added.
Waltz also spoke about the aggressive cuts Trump has already made to certain federal agencies, suggesting there are additional budget cuts he plans to make to agencies like the Defense.
“If there is any agency what I have a ton of experience with, in the Department of Defense with an $800 billion-plus budget, it’s, it’s DOD. everything there seems to cost too much, take too long and deliver too little to the soldiers,” Waltz told Welker.
His comment about the Pentagon came as Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he plans to direct Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency office, to start identifying wasteful spending at the departments of Education and Defense.
“I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. He’s going to find the same thing,” Trump said. “Then I’m going to go to the military. Let’s check the military. We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. And, you know, the people elected me on that.”
Asked whether Musk is the right person to identify funding cuts in the Defense Department, Waltz did not directly answer the question, simply saying, “All of the appropriate firewalls will be in place,” and lauding Musk’s company Space X.
In the Fox News 'Special Report' interview, Baier asked Trump a similar question about whether he can trust Musk.
“Trust Elon? Oh, he’s not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He’s so into it,” Trump said.
In the last two weeks, Musk and DOGE have attempted to slash jobs and funding at the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, something Waltz said was justified on Sunday.
“[USAID is] doing all kinds of other things that, frankly, aren’t in line with strategic interests or the president’s vision,” Waltz said, adding that “all too often, only cents on the dollar actually makes it to people in need. Between the big contractors, the subcontractors, the local contractors, the dollars aren’t being used wisely.”
He also denied that the United States' pulling back on humanitarian aid abroad would cede control to China and Russia on the world stage.
“We need to realign their mission and line it up with the president’s foreign policy vision,” Waltz added.
He declined to comment on the details of Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin but reiterated the president’s support for ending the war in Ukraine.
He added that Trump would seek to “recoup” the cost of military assistance to Ukraine through “a partnership with the Ukrainians in terms of their rare earths, their natural resources and their oil and gas, and also buying ours.”
He added that once the war is over, European nations will “have to own this conflict,” adding, “in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the Europeans.”
