President Donald Trump isn’t ‘trolling’ when it comes to efforts to acquire Greenland and make Canada the 51st state. 

Trump has discussed acquiring Greenland, Canada and Panama for months — and regularly has referred to Canada as the 51st U.S. state. Despite skepticism from some, Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine published Friday that he’s serious about these proposals. 

When asked by TIME’s Eric Cortellessa whether Trump was ‘trolling a bit’ suggesting Canada join the U.S., Trump replied, ‘Actually, no, I’m not.’

Cortellessa then asked if Trump intended to ‘grow the American empire,’ prompting Trump to double down on the significance of acquiring these key pieces of territory. 

‘Well, it depends as an empire, it wasn’t, these are not things that we had before, so I’d view it a little bit differently if we had the right opportunity,’ Trump said. ‘Yeah, I think Greenland would be very well off if they I think it’s important for us for national security and even international security.’

Trump also claimed the U.S. is ‘losing’ money supporting Canada, and the only solution on the table is for it to become a state. 

‘We’re taking care of their military,’ Trump said. ‘We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don’t want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.’

The TIME piece was published a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that Trump routinely discusses Canada becoming a state, claiming that Trump brings it up ‘all the time.’ Carney has previously shut down any notions that Canada will become a U.S. state. 

Meanwhile, Trump has emphasized that Greenland is key for national security purposes. While the Danish territory has said it is seeking independence from Copenhagen and isn’t inclined to join the U.S., Trump has voiced a strong desire to secure Greenland amid increase Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic.

‘If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we’re not going to be able to do that,’ Trump told reporters in March. ‘We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody to take care of that situation. And we’re not talking about peace for the United States, we’re talking about world peace, we’re talking about international security.’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Friday calling for a review of Military Equal Opportunity and DoD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs. The secretaries of each military department are required under the memo to assess the programs in place within their own departments.

In a video posted on X announcing the memo, Hegseth said that while it’s ‘a good thing’ that the military has multiple avenues for both service members and civilians to complain about harassment and discrimination, the systems have been ‘weaponized’ and used ‘in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers.’

The memo’s official title is ‘Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability,’ but Hegseth says he calls it the ‘No More Walking on Eggshells’ policy.

‘So, here’s the goal: empower leaders to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline,’ Hegseth said in the video.

The memo directs the secretaries to ensure that complaints that ‘are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence are timely dismissed.’ Additionally, ‘favorable actions,’ such as awards and promotions, involving the alleged offender are to be considered until the complaint is substantiated. Finally, the memo states that those who ‘knowingly submit false complaints’ may face discipline.

The secretaries have 45 days to complete their reviews.

Hegseth is no stranger to controversy and has faced several allegations since being tapped to lead DoD. It is not a stretch to imagine that he might have empathy for those facing false or unsubstantiated allegations.

Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations. This included an affidavit by his former sister-in-law in which she alleged that Hegseth was physically abusive to his ex-wife, Samantha ‘Sam’ Hegseth. However, Sam denied the allegations, saying she did not experience physical abuse during her marriage to Hegseth.

Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a ‘perfect person,’ but asserted that he was the subject of a ‘coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media.’ 

Additionally, since becoming secretary of defense, Hegseth has been involved in two scandals regarding the encrypted messaging app Signal.

The first scandal occurred when The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat in which there were discussions about plans for the U.S. to strike Yemen. While National Security Advisor Mike Waltz took a lot of heat for the situation, Hegseth was not spared from criticism. In the end, the Trump administration insisted that the discussions in the group did not actually involve ‘war plans.’

On Sunday, Hegseth was accused of sharing military information in a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal attorney. The New York Times reported that people with knowledge of the situation said the information ‘included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen.’ 

Hegseth told ‘FOX & Friends’ that the allegations were meant to ‘sabotage’ President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Despite an op-ed suggesting that Hegseth could be on the way out, the White House has stood behind him.

‘He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. 

Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from implementing the order following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees.

The union claims in the lawsuit that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional, adding that it would lose two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues if they order is allowed to go through. 

The order exempted more than a dozen agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments.

It affects around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies like the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements.

The U.S. Treasury Department also filed a lawsuit against the NTEU following the order to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees. 

The order is part of the administration’s efforts to lessen the size of the federal government, by making it easier to discipline and fire workers and change working conditions. 

The temporary injunction will remain in place pending the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit. 

Friedman said he would issue an opinion explaining his ruling in the next few days.

He also gave attorneys on both sides a week to propose how the lawsuit should move forward. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.