A prominent White House official has reportedly been urging Donald Trump to kick Canada out of the Five Eyes intelligence network.
The move comes amid growing tensions between the two nations spurred by the president's repeated threats to annex and tariff his neighbours to the north.
According to the Financial Times, the official in question is top advisor Peter Navarro. Sources close to the aide told the outlet that he was encouraging Trump to take extra measures against Canada, including nixing them from the alliance that also includes the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Navarro denied having done so, telling the FT that "we would never ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada."
"This nonsense from the Financial Times is a product of a culture in the media where they report stories and never name their sources," he said during a press conference. "My view is that we should never have to comment on any story that's based on unnamed sources."
He urged the media to "please stop doing that."
Five Eyes was established in 1941, and allows myriad intelligence agencies from the aforementioned member nations to better share information.