Trump and Canada agree on strategic collaboration for the Golden Dome missile defence system
US President Donald Trump announced a major collaboration with Canada to develop the Golden Dome missile defence system, described by the US president himself as ‘the most significant defence system in modern military history’.
The US president indicated that the United States is working ‘very closely’ with its Canadian neighbour to develop this defence system, for which an investment of around $175 billion is planned over the next three years.
All this took place during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House between Donald Trump himself and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. After the meeting, Trump said that both North American countries are seeking to ensure integrated defence in North America, especially after the latest threats involving the display of long-range intercontinental missiles by belligerent countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea, China and Russia.
"Something we are working on very closely is the Golden Dome. That's the protection mechanism. And you see how it works. It's incredible,‘ Donald Trump said in the Oval Office as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Strengthening the historic bond between the United States and Canada. 🇺🇸🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/anwWpUJlty
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 8, 2025
’We will work together on a Golden Dome for both countries, and I think it will be very important, especially if we look at the world and what is happening. We want to have that protection. It's really amazing. The technology is incredible," Trump added.
The Golden Dome missile defence system is a fairly advanced missile defence project, an improved version of Israel's famous Iron Dome, with more technology, capacity and range than the Israeli model.
According to the US Department of Defence, the system will consist of four levels of defence, one space-based (to control missiles and identify targets with high precision) and three ground-based (to house advanced interceptor missiles, sophisticated radars and laser-based weaponry to deal with short-range threats), as well as 11 short-range missile batteries that will cover the entire United States, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as part of Canada.
The system would be designed to detect and eliminate various weapons threats, such as ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles before launch and during flight.
However, the project faces technical challenges, such as intercepting certain missiles, such as hypersonic missiles, which have extraordinary speed and manoeuvrability in different atmospheric layers.
In any case, it seems that Donald Trump is very clear about the underlying threats from belligerent nations with high military capabilities, such as Iran, Russia, North Korea and China itself, and he does not want to spare any effort or expense to protect US territory to the maximum.
Trade talks
Donald Trump and Mark Carney also addressed the thorny issue of trade relations between the United States and Canada. President Trump referred to details of the new trade agreement between the two nations, indicating that the Canadian people will ‘love’ the United States again once the details of the new trade pact are known.
Trump acknowledged that trade negotiations with Canada are ‘more complicated’ than those with other nations, partly due to the interests of both countries and their geographical proximity.
Trump also expressed satisfaction with Canada's performance so far on fentanyl trafficking, stating that the country ‘has worked hard and done a much better job than in the past’ in terms of the impact that the entry of this drug into US territory is having. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an analgesic (pain relief) and anaesthetic that is used illegally as a drug by many citizens in the United States, something the Trump administration is fighting hard against.
