In a post on X on May 18, Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon, announced that the United States would pause its participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defense (PJBD) to “reassess how this forum benefits shared North American defense.” The under secretary pointed to Canada failing to make credible progress on its defence commitments as well as to Canadian rhetoric, a jab at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos about middle powers co-operating in the face of hegemonic powers, as the reasons for the US decision. The move comes barely six weeks ahead of the mandatory joint review of the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which Canada is heavily reliant on, as well as amid a climate of worsening bilateral relations since President Donald Trump’s own rhetoric about making Canada the fifty-first state and the imposition of tariffs on Canadian trade.