ISTANBUL

A senior White House official on Tuesday denied a report suggesting that he is pushing to expel Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence network, calling it "nonsense" and "crazy."

Peter Navarro, a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, criticized the Financial Times report which suggested – citing sources familiar with internal administration discussions – that he was pushing the White House to remove Canada from the intelligence-sharing partnership that includes the US, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

"My view is that we should never have to comment on any story where it's based on unnamed sources," Navarro told reporters at the White House.

"We would never, ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada," he said, urging people to stop paying attention to reports based on anonymous sources.

The denial comes amid deteriorating US-Canada ties since Trump took office in January.

The president has repeatedly suggested Canada could become America's 51st state and has referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "governor" rather than a head of government.

Trump also recently announced a 25% tariff package targeting Canadian imports, further straining bilateral ties.

The Five Eyes alliance is an intelligence-sharing arrangement, allowing members to share highly classified information and signals intelligence.

The Atlantic Magazine reported in January that several foreign intelligence officials said in light of Trump’s reckless handling of intelligence in his first term, in 2017-2021, “they are taking steps to limit how much sensitive intelligence they share with the Trump administration, for fear that it might be leaked or used for political ends.”