--- title: Trump Says Canada Can Join ‘Golden Dome’ description: Trump offered Canada the option to join the U.S. missile-defense system for free—if it becomes the 51st state. canonical: https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-28T03:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:39:17.593Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says Canada Can Join ‘Golden Dome’ og:description: Trump offered Canada the option to join the U.S. missile-defense system for free—if it becomes the 51st state. og:url: https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ed081daf6fd6d3/6998c6fa7323afb4b72bc8d1/donald-trump-golden-dome_f55cc8.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says Canada Can Join ‘Golden Dome’ twitter:description: Trump offered Canada the option to join the U.S. missile-defense system for free—if it becomes the 51st state. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ed081daf6fd6d3/6998c6fa7323afb4b72bc8d1/donald-trump-golden-dome_f55cc8.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Offers Canada Free ‘Golden Dome’ Protection to Become 51st U.S. State > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter May 28, 2025 3:00 AM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks about the ‘Golden Dome’ from the Oval Office of the White House on May 20, 2025. President Donald Trump speaks about the ‘Golden Dome’ from the Oval Office of the White House on May 20, 2025.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter May 28, 2025 3:00 AM UTC Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on May 21 that the country [was in talks](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4ee9jmk17o) with the U.S. about taking part in President Donald Trump’s [“Golden Dome” missile defense system](https://time.com/7287304/golden-dome-trump-missile-defense-space-costs-concerns-elon-musk/). Asked how much Canada was willing to shell out for the project that is expected to cost upwards of hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars, Carney said he was not going to “put a price tag” on it, but added: “We are conscious that we have an ability, if we so choose, to complete the Golden Dome with investments and partnership.” But Trump said Tuesday, May 27, that Canada could join for free—with a catch. “I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State,” Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114581970051938528) on Truth Social. “They are considering the offer!” **Read More:** [_China, North Korea, and Russia’s Response to Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Proposal_](https://time.com/7288728/golden-dome-trump-north-korea-russia-china-response-space-militarization/) Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire for [Canada to become a U.S. state](https://time.com/7283200/canada-not-for-sale-carney-tells-trump/)—a position that’s deeply unpopular among Canadians. In an Oval Office meeting on May 6, Carney, whose [election in late April](https://time.com/7281123/mark-carney-wins-canada-election-liberals/) was seen as a rebuke to Trump, insisted to the U.S. President that his northern neighbor is “not for sale” and “won’t be for sale, ever.” Trump responded that “time will tell” and “never say never.” The U.S. and Canada already have a joint air defense system called the [North American Aerospace Defense Command](https://www.norad.mil/About-NORAD/). Canada said [in 2022](https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/allies-partners/norad/facesheet-funding-norad-modernization.html) it would invest some $28 billion over the next two decades for its modernization. Trump’s plan for a “Golden Dome,” envisioned as a network of interceptors, satellites, and sensors capable of thwarting missile attacks and modeled after Israel’s “Iron Dome,” would cost significantly more. The President said last week, when announcing plans for the “Golden Dome” to be operational by the end of his term, that the project would cost $175 billion overall, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost to develop and operate such a system could rise as high as $831 billion over 20 years—and that’s just to protect the United States. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/"},"headline":"Trump Offers Canada Free ‘Golden Dome’ Protection to Become 51st U.S. State","datePublished":"2025-05-28T03:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:39:17.593Z","description":"Trump offered Canada the option to join the U.S. missile-defense system for free—if it becomes the 51st state.","url":"https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/","keywords":["Donald Trump","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ed081daf6fd6d3/6998c6fa7323afb4b72bc8d1/donald-trump-golden-dome_f55cc8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0ed081daf6fd6d3/6998c6fa7323afb4b72bc8d1/donald-trump-golden-dome_f55cc8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 20, 2025.","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7289035/trump-golden-dome-canada-51st-state-missile-defense-cost-carney/","name":"Trump Offers Canada Free ‘Golden Dome’ Protection to Become 51st U.S. State"}}]}] ```