Trudeau: Canada-U.S. border should stay free of troops

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson referred questions to the Department of Defense.

A DoD official confirmed the department received a request from DHS for support at the northern and southern borders.

A senior administration official acknowledged "ongoing discussions" about taking additional measures at the border. Any additional personnel would not conduct law enforcement activities, the official said, but would focus on planning and logistics.

"We're doing that on a variety of fronts, and that's what we're doing now to see if we need to do that with any more personnel," the official told POLITICO.

Sending U.S. troops to patrol areas near the Canada-U.S. border would be "damaging" to the bilateral relationship, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a briefing with reporters after the news broke. "In Canada's view, this is an entirely unnecessary step, which we would view as damaging to our relationship."

Freeland said Canadian officials first learned of the U.S. proposal "a couple of days ago." She declined to describe it in detail, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss a potential policy decision by another country that may also have changed over time.

Freeland said, as far as she knows, a final decision has not been made. She added that Cabinet officials like Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan have spoken to their counterparts at the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, respectively, and newly minted Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman has discussed the issue with the State Department.

Freeland said she's had conversations "directly" with American leaders about the proposal but has yet to speak to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or Vice President Mike Pence.

"What we have said is, we really do not believe at all that there would be a public health justification for you to take this action," Freeland said.