Top Military Commander Cornered on Trump’s Crackpot Plans for Canada
“Would you ask me, please, also what my attack plans are for the Martians?” the admiral said.
Jonathan Alcorn/REUTERS
A top U.S. admiral gave a puzzling response when pressed on whether he would attack Canada if President Donald Trump ordered him to.
Samuel J. Paparo, who leads the U.S. Pacific Command, was asked at a joint military conference in Canada on Wednesday under what circumstances he would obey an order to launch military action against America’s northern neighbor, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
The admiral, visibly caught off guard, called the question “needlessly emotional” but avoided giving a straight answer.
“I find that—I find that scenario to be, uh, absolutely and utterly preposterous,” Paparo said, as seen in a video shared on X by Wiretap Media. “And so, uh, I follow the—I follow the orders of the commander-in-chief, but, uh, that is a needlessly emotional question.”
💥The Washington Post tried to capture CBC News “elbows up” invasion panic by asking Admiral Samuel J. Paparo under what circumstances he would obey orders to invade Canada.
— Wiretap Media (@WiretapMediaCa) September 2, 2026
He called the scenario “absolutely and utterly preposterous,” and nearly broke out into hysterical… pic.twitter.com/TI4PdAmFy0
“I don’t find—forgive my, forgive my saying it, too—is that, uh... Canada is a close ally,” he continued.
Paparo paused for a moment, laughing nervously before adding, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be—insult you.”
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The reporter replied that the admiral still hadn’t answered the question.
The admiral likened the absurdity of a U.S. attack on Canada to an invasion by aliens, but didn't confirm whether or not he would follow that order.
Jonathan Alcorn/REUTERS
“I said I follow the orders of the president and I find it to be a, uh... would you ask me, please, also, what my attack plans are for the Martians?” the military commander replied jokingly before saying he rejected the premise of the question.
Asked about Paparo’s comments and whether the U.S. would ever attack Canada, the Pentagon told the Daily Beast it had “nothing to provide.”

Trump has made an enemy out of a longtime ally.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Tensions between the U.S. and its neighboring ally have risen in the wake of the trade war sparked by the Trump administration.
Administration officials, as well as the president himself, have fanned the flames by attacking Canada with childish insults.
Over the last week, Cabinet secretaries, including Sean Duffy, Scott Bessent, and Pete Hegseth, have mocked the Canadian military, while Trump has ordered the rebranding of Lake Ontario, which sits between the two nations’ borders, as “Lake America.”
Trump’s fascination with renaming bodies of water began last year when he ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed as the “Gulf of America.”
On Wednesday, the president also suggested on Truth Social that the Strait of Hormuz, which has been a point of contention amid his quagmire of a war with Iran, should be renamed to the “Trump Strait.”
Last week, he also pondered renaming either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean after himself.
Trump might want to rename everything—and craven parts of the legacy media are following suit. But because of our subscribers, the Daily Beast is proudly independent and able to stand up to the MAGA bullies. If you already subscribe, thank you for helping us tell the truth. And if you’re not yet part of our community, it’s never been easier to join us at www.thedailybeast.com/membership.
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