A senior White House trade adviser has threatened to redraw the U.S.-Canada border, according to The Telegraph.
Peter Navarro, officially President Donald Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, is “ruling the roost,” sources told the paper. “Navarro recommended revising the Canada-U.S. border, which is just crazy and dangerous,” a source close to the negotiations told the British broadsheet.
The newspaper reported that Navarro, who recently denied reports that he wants Canada booted from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, wants U.S. officials to work with their Canadian counterparts to tinker with the border line.
Canada, however, doesn’t want to get drawn into the issue and won’t entertain trade negotiations until old frenemies Jamieson Greer and Howard Lutnick are ready to go to work, after the former was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday. Lutnick was confirmed as commerce secretary on Feb. 18.
“The Canadians have told their people to hold off negotiating with the U.S. government until Jamieson Greer and Howard Lutnick are confirmed by the Senate and in post,” the source told The Telegraph.
U.S. Trade Representative Greer is a veteran of Trump’s first term, when he worked on the North American trade pact and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The sources added that Navarro’s closeness to the president has made him untouchable.
The fiercely loyal adviser, 75, led Trump’s White House National Trade Council during his first term and spent four months in prison in 2024 for defying a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Peter Navarro is in post, and he is taking advantage of being there by himself with no one else in post to challenge his extreme positions. This will change as soon as the many other trade and economic positions are filled,” the source said.
“By default of no competition, he is temporarily ruling the roost.”
The border report comes after Trump, on various occasions, has claimed that he wants to make Canada the United States’ 51st state. He has also referred to outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of Canada.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
