26 Feb, 02:34

White House rejects FT reports on excluding Canada from Five Eyes alliance

"It's absurd. The whole thing is foolishness and nonsense," US President Donald Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro said

WASHINGTON, February 26. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro, has dismissed media reports claiming that the White House is considering excluding Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

"It's absurd. The whole thing is foolishness and nonsense," Navarro told journalists, commenting on FT's reports. According to him, the piece concerned just became one of those "stories with confidential sources."

"That was just crazy stuff. We would never ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada," he stressed, adding that US administration representatives should generally avoid commenting on articles referring to anonymous sources.

The Financial Times previously reported, citing sources, that the White House was engaged in high-level discussions about potentially excluding Canada from the Five Eyes alliance, which also includes Australia, the UK, and New Zealand. According to the newspaper, the initiative was authored by Navarro. The publication suggests that Washington aims to use this measure to pressure Ottawa into strengthening its efforts against illegal immigration into the United States.

The Five Eyes alliance dates back to World War II, when the UK and the US collaborated to break German cipher machines.

London and Washington formalized their cooperation in electronic intelligence in 1946, with Canada joining in 1948, followed by Australia and New Zealand in 1956. According to the Financial Times, Ottawa and Wellington contribute the least to the alliance. However, Canada’s exclusion could spark criticism not only from US allies but also within the US intelligence community. Former Trump chief strategist Stephen Bannon told the publication that removing Canada from the organization could ultimately harm the United States itself.

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