US pauses joint defense effort with Canada that dates to WWII

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is pausing its participation on a joint board with Canada for continental defense that dates back to World War II, the Pentagon announced Monday, accusing Canada of failing “to make credible progress on its defense commitments.” President Donald Trump has long accused Canada and other NATO countries of spending too little on their own militaries, arguing that the U.S. shoulders too much of the defense burden. Tensions with Canada also are simmering over tariffs, an expiring North American trade pact and a feud between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We can no longer avoid the gaps between rhetoric and reality,” Elbridge Colby, an undersecretary of defense, said in announcing the pause in a string of posts on X. “Real powers must sustain our rhetoric with shared defense and security responsibilities.”

Colby’s posts noted the increases in defense spending that Canada and other nations agreed to at a summit in 2025. He said the U.S. will assess how the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, comprised of military and civilian officials from both countries, “benefits shared North American defense.”

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