Donald Trump’s attacks on NATO allies should make Countries think twice about F-35 purchases (US DoD photo)
By Jason Davis
As President Donald Trump declares war on America’s NATO allies it remains to be seen if that has any effect on the marketing of one of the biggest U.S. exports of all – the F-35.
Allies, including Canada, are committed to buying billions of dollars worth of jets. That means lots of jobs across the U.S., particularly in Trump-friendly states like Texas.
But in the last little while Trump has talked about using military action to seize Greenland from Denmark, a member of NATO. That has sent shock waves through the alliance and has sparked a lot of discussion about the need for NATO nations to move away from using U.S. equipment.
At the top of that equipment heap is the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter. Denmark has purchased the aircraft. Canada has committed to 16 with potentially more to come. Other Nordic nations have also committed to the F-35.
But Trump’s threats are shaking up the NATO alliance and raising questions about whether it is wise to buy the F-35.
In addition, the Danish intelligence agency recently outlined the growing danger of the U.S. The United States is using its economic power to "assert its will" and threaten military force against friend and foe alike, the agency pointed out in a new report.
Back in Canada, Defence Minister David McGuinty seems ready to wave the white flag and give in to the U.S. “We have no choice,” but to co-operate with the Americans on defence, McGuinty said in an interview with iPolitics.
McGuinty also praised U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
But some former senior government officials are calling for the federal government to grow a spine and dump the F-35.
“Buying the F-35 to respond to threats in the Arctic when they are from the USA, is wrong,” Artur Wilczynski wrote on his X account. “US is threatening Greenland & doesn’t recognize Canada’s sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. F-35 only makes sense if we are fighting together with the USA not if they’re an adversary.”
It’s hard to dismiss Wilczynski’s view as ill-informed.
From 2014 to 2018, he served as Canada’s Ambassador to Norway. He joined the Communications Security Establishment in 2018 as Director General, Intelligence Operations and was promoted to Associate Deputy Chief SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) in 2020.
“Canadians need to understand this,” Wilczynski wrote in another X post. “We face the same challenge as Denmark. The threats in our Arctic from Russia and a China are minimal. The real threat to Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic is from the USA.”
Trump’s actions have prompted other Canadians to also call for the cancellation of the F-35 deal and for Canada to go all in on the Gripen fighter jet built by Saab.
But over at Billie Flynn’s website, a full-on Trump love-in is underway. Flynn, a former RCAF pilot and a now retired Lockheed Martin F-35 test pilot, has turned into America’s greatest F-35 salesman. He has denounced journalists who have written articles that he claims are inaccurate about the F-35. He has launched a personal attack on veteran CBC reporter Murray Brewster, claiming without providing any evidence, that the journalist hasn’t told the truth about the F-35 for the last 15 years. For the record, Esprit de Corps supports Brewster’s journalism and denounces such attacks on reporters.
Flynn also recently posted a piece by Ted Barnes who claimed Canada’s decision on the F-35 has become “polluted” by Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Then there is Bill Best…he suggested to Flynn that journalists be prosecuted for their articles about the F-35, claiming they are “issuing known to be false information regarding an internationally produced, proven product” (i.e. the F-35). “Even simply charging a journalist with malevolent production of known falsehoods should/could give pause to other such idiots,” Best suggested.
That is right out of the Trump playbook – charge journalists for reporting facts that the F-35 cheerleading club deems to be inaccurate.
What next?
A requirement for every Canadian school kid to recite an oath of allegiance to Lockheed Martin and Donald Trump? No thanks.
