U.S. Suspends Participation in Joint Defense Board, Citing Canada's Failure to Meet Defense Spending Commitments
The Trump administration has announced the suspension of its participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence (PJBD), a US-Canada committee with over 80 years of history, due to Canada's failure to meet its defense spending commitments. This move is seen as another pressure tactic by the White House, adding new uncertainty to the already tense trade and security relationship. The decision could impact areas such as the modernization of NORAD and Canada's re-evaluation of its F-35 fighter jet procurement.
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- 📰 Published: May 19, 2026 at 10:24
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(Central News Agency, Vancouver, 18th, by reporter Cheng Ai-fen) The U.S. Trump administration has announced it will suspend participation in the U.S.-Canada Permanent Joint Board on Defence, a committee with over 80 years of history, due to Canada's failure to meet its defense spending commitments. The move is seen by outsiders as renewed pressure from the White House on Ottawa and adds new uncertainty to the two countries' recently strained trade and security relations.
U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby announced on the social media platform X on the 18th that the Pentagon will "suspend participation" in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence (PJBD). This body, established in 1940, has long provided advice to both governments on North American continental defense and strategic cooperation.
In his post, Colby criticized Canada for its lack of credible progress in fulfilling its defense commitments and implicitly criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for his recent public statements expressing a desire to expand alliances with countries other than the United States.
"We can no longer evade the gap between rhetoric and reality. A truly great power must back up its diplomatic rhetoric with a shared burden of defense and security responsibilities," he stated in the post. He also attached the text of Carney's widely noted speech at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.
This decision has shaken the U.S.-Canada defense and security community.
On August 17, 1940, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King co-signed the Ogdensburg Agreement, establishing the principle of joint North American defense and creating the bilateral joint defense board.
Canada's National Post reported that this agreement was a pivotal moment in Canada's shift from the British sphere of influence to the American camp.
The report noted that at the time of the signing, Britain was struggling against Nazi Germany in the Battle of Britain. Roosevelt had promised Canada that 30,000 U.S. troops could be dispatched to support Canada within three hours in the event of a German invasion.
Then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was quite displeased with the agreement, believing the U.S. was taking advantage of Britain's crisis to pull Canada away from the Commonwealth and towards Washington. However, then-Canadian Prime Minister King saw it as a necessary step to bring the U.S. into the war and win World War II.
Historian Neville Thompson mentioned in his book "The Third Man" that this agreement provided Canada with a security guarantee and further integrated it into the U.S. sphere of influence.
Now, the Trump administration's cold shoulder to this historic cooperation mechanism has raised concerns among U.S. and Canadian political and military figures.
CBC reported that Imran Bayoumi, a former U.S. defense advisor and now a geopolitical expert at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, called the U.S. move "unnecessary and provocative." He stated, "Canceling this board sends the wrong signal to Ottawa and other U.S. allies."
Artur Wilczynski, a former diplomat who served in Canada's Department of Public Safety and participated in the board's meetings, criticized the decision on X: "A lack of joint coordination will also hurt the United States itself. This decision by the Trump administration is baffling."
For years, the U.S. has criticized Canada for its long-standing failure to meet the NATO target of "defense spending at 2% of GDP." However, under Trump's pressure, Canada has reached the 2% threshold and will further increase defense spending to 5% of GDP (3.5% for military spending and 1.5% for defense infrastructure).
Former Canadian Member of Parliament John McKay, who served as the Canadian co-chair of the committee, warned that this move could affect aspects such as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization negotiations and Arctic military cooperation.
He also stated that Canada ordered 88 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. in 2023, but after Trump's return to office, Ottawa has begun to re-evaluate this procurement. Therefore, it is not out of the question that the U.S. hopes to use this committee as leverage to pressure Canada into purchasing the F-35s. (Editor: Chen Hui-ping) 1150519
U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby announced on the social media platform X on the 18th that the Pentagon will "suspend participation" in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence (PJBD). This body, established in 1940, has long provided advice to both governments on North American continental defense and strategic cooperation.
In his post, Colby criticized Canada for its lack of credible progress in fulfilling its defense commitments and implicitly criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for his recent public statements expressing a desire to expand alliances with countries other than the United States.
"We can no longer evade the gap between rhetoric and reality. A truly great power must back up its diplomatic rhetoric with a shared burden of defense and security responsibilities," he stated in the post. He also attached the text of Carney's widely noted speech at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.
This decision has shaken the U.S.-Canada defense and security community.
On August 17, 1940, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King co-signed the Ogdensburg Agreement, establishing the principle of joint North American defense and creating the bilateral joint defense board.
Canada's National Post reported that this agreement was a pivotal moment in Canada's shift from the British sphere of influence to the American camp.
The report noted that at the time of the signing, Britain was struggling against Nazi Germany in the Battle of Britain. Roosevelt had promised Canada that 30,000 U.S. troops could be dispatched to support Canada within three hours in the event of a German invasion.
Then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was quite displeased with the agreement, believing the U.S. was taking advantage of Britain's crisis to pull Canada away from the Commonwealth and towards Washington. However, then-Canadian Prime Minister King saw it as a necessary step to bring the U.S. into the war and win World War II.
Historian Neville Thompson mentioned in his book "The Third Man" that this agreement provided Canada with a security guarantee and further integrated it into the U.S. sphere of influence.
Now, the Trump administration's cold shoulder to this historic cooperation mechanism has raised concerns among U.S. and Canadian political and military figures.
CBC reported that Imran Bayoumi, a former U.S. defense advisor and now a geopolitical expert at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, called the U.S. move "unnecessary and provocative." He stated, "Canceling this board sends the wrong signal to Ottawa and other U.S. allies."
Artur Wilczynski, a former diplomat who served in Canada's Department of Public Safety and participated in the board's meetings, criticized the decision on X: "A lack of joint coordination will also hurt the United States itself. This decision by the Trump administration is baffling."
For years, the U.S. has criticized Canada for its long-standing failure to meet the NATO target of "defense spending at 2% of GDP." However, under Trump's pressure, Canada has reached the 2% threshold and will further increase defense spending to 5% of GDP (3.5% for military spending and 1.5% for defense infrastructure).
Former Canadian Member of Parliament John McKay, who served as the Canadian co-chair of the committee, warned that this move could affect aspects such as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization negotiations and Arctic military cooperation.
He also stated that Canada ordered 88 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. in 2023, but after Trump's return to office, Ottawa has begun to re-evaluate this procurement. Therefore, it is not out of the question that the U.S. hopes to use this committee as leverage to pressure Canada into purchasing the F-35s. (Editor: Chen Hui-ping) 1150519