US President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again put his idea to Canada in his mission to make the country the 51st US state by putting great pressure on the country to pay $61 billion to join his proposed Golden Dome missile defense system, or choose to become the 51st US state for nothing.
Through his Truth Social, Trump stressed that although Canada "very much wants to join" the system, the country will still have to pay if it wants to maintain its status as a separate country.
The announcement came after King Charles III's visit to the Canadian Parliament, which highlighted the issue of national sovereignty in a world full of uncertainty.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also expressed the country's desire to reduce its dependence on the United States by joining other programs such as ReArm Europe.
However, Trump's plan received strong opposition from China, Russia and North Korea, who consider it a dangerous arms race in space and a threat to global stability.
Experts doubt Trump's ability to complete the $175 billion system by 2029, given that the Golden Dome is much larger in scale than Israel's Iron Dome system, which it was originally modeled after.
Whether Canada will agree or not is still unclear at this point, but one thing is certain – their decision will have a major impact not only on the relationship between the two countries, but also on the increasingly tense global balance of power.
