In an NBC News "Meet the Press" interview, president Donald Trump's national security adviser Michael "Mike" Waltz dismissed reports that the president planned to invade or annex Canada.
"I don't think there's any plans to invade Canada," Waltz said during his interview with moderator Kristen Welker.
The accusation comes from the New York Times, which reported Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said to a meeting of business leaders last week that the Trump administration keeps "talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state."
Trudeau was caught on a hot-mic warning of Trump's plan to annex Canada as "a real thing."
Instead, Waltz said that many Canadians are unhappy with a decade of Trudeau's liberal governance, reported NBC News.
"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.
He also said the United States would control the Panama Canal soon.
"And that's what we're talking about, from Greenland, to Arctic security to the Panama Canal coming back under the United States," Waltz said. "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 leading up to the presidential inauguration, Trump spoke about annexing Greenland and regaining control of the Panama Canal.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
