EventStatement
Hoekstra at Luke AFB: 'NORAD would have to be altered' if Canada drops the F-35; asked about the US as a threat: 'That's crazy. We're not a threat.'
CBC interview (David Common) at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, aired ~2026-01-26. Hoekstra said the US would buy more F-35s and fly them more often into Canadian airspace if Canada did not buy all 88, and NORAD arrangements would have to be rethought if Canada chose the Gripen. Asked about Canadians seeing the US as a threat amid 51st-state and Greenland talk: "That's crazy. We're not a threat." Both a dismissal of the threat and a lever on NORAD.
- Date
- (known to the nearest estimate)
- Kind
- Statement
- Where
- United States
- Evidence
- Statement: Something was said. Weighted lowest: words cost less than actions. How evidence is weighed
- Who
- United States federal government (acted); Government of Canada (target); Pete Hoekstra (spoke)
When people heard about it
The public does not always learn of an event when it happens: some come out later, and old ones can become news again because of something newer.
- Happened
- First reported
- (same day), in CBC News
- Back in the news
- (241 days later), after Carney to the NYT: he looked at the 'extreme tail risk' of US military action; 'not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to'; in The Epoch Times
Articles that cite this record
Sources
- CBC News, “NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador” (external site), . source record
Quotes
“That's crazy. We're not a threat.”
From CBC News: NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador, near end, after 'CBC News asked the U.S. ambassador whether...'
Logged against predictions
- P17: "Shared skies hold" (logged 26 January 2026, logged only)
- P19: "Gripen triggers NORAD threat" (logged 26 January 2026, logged only)