Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is part of a U.S. group whose leader, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, has been tasked by the Donald Trump administration with helping to annex Greenland.

In the wake of the surprise U.S. military invasion of Venezuela, Trump has doubled down on threats to take over Greenland, musing about sending in U.S. military troops and saying that owning the sovereign territory is “psychologically important to me.” World leaders have pushed back against these threats, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has said “the future of Greenland is a decision exclusively for the people of Greenland and Denmark.”

In December, Trump appointed Landry as special envoy to Greenland. Landry reacted to his appointment by affirming his commitment “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.” Denmark and Greenland officials have advocated strongly for their sovereignty to be respected. When asked last week how international law may view the U.S.’s comments about Greenland, Landry responded “when has the United States engaged in imperialism? Never!” 

Behind the scenes, however, Landry is closely tied to Alberta Premier Smith. The Louisiana governor leads the Governors Coalition for Energy Security (GCES), that Smith also belongs to. The two have met on several occasions, and Smith has praised Landry as an “excellent” governor.

For her part, Smith has responded to Trump’s past threats to Greenland by saying the U.S. president is “very concerned about Arctic security and he wants to make sure he’s got partners who are equally concerned about it.” 

All this talk of seizing Greenland is happening as a separation referendum is underway in Alberta. As of January 3rd, an organization called Stay Free Alberta, which is linked to the separatist group Alberta Prosperity Project, has been collecting signatures on a referendum for Alberta to become an independent state.

Smith’s office did not respond to DeSmog’s questions related to the GCES or the Trump administration’s threats to Canadian sovereignty.

What Is the Governors Coalition for Energy Security?

The GCES, launched in September 2024, is composed of 11 U.S. Republican governors and three Canadian premiers, including Ontario’s Doug Ford and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe. According to its website, the coalition is “focusing on preserving all energy options” to “foster innovation, reduce regulatory barriers and attract business investment.”

The coalition recently announced a set of policy recommendations to “address America’s energy challenges” and “remove obstacles” to building energy infrastructure. These include limiting environmental regulations and speeding up permitting. The ultimate goal is to “secure America’s energy future while supporting manufacturing competitiveness and job creation.”

Smith joined the GCES shortly after Trump won the November 2024 election, framing it as an opportunity “to work with the Trump Administration and other US partners to increase our pipeline capacity to our greatest friend and ally, the United States.”

Since Smith joined the coalition, it has commended the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a climate crisis denier named Lee Zeldin who is backed by fracking billionaires, for “his recent actions to eliminate wasteful federal funding.” Smith’s group was referring to Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, since rolled back under Trump, which was designed in part to fund and stimulate renewable energy across the U.S. The GCES argues that this funding “was intended to target energy producers and the petrochemical agency.”

Saskatchewan Premier Moe joined the GCES in March 2025 while Ontario Premier Ford joined in November 2025.

Smith’s relationship with Republican politicians goes beyond just the GCES, however. She attended several of Trump’s inauguration events in January, 2025, and met with U.S. cabinet officials including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

During that trip, Smith met with Landry and another member of the GCEC. Smith shared a photo from this meeting with Landry and Arkansas Governor Huckabee Sanders on X, writing that she’d “had a great discussion with both of these excellent governors on how our great nations can work together to achieve the goal of North American energy dominance.”  

Smith, the 51st State, and MAGA

Not only has Trump been threatening to capture Greenland, but he has also made comments about turning Canada into the 51st U.S. state, starting in November 2024 when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Trump at his resort in Mar-a-Lago.

In March 2025, Trump suggested Canada waive its sovereignty to end the tariffs he placed on Canadian goods and in September 2025 Trump raised the matter again with a Canadian official, saying “Why don’t you just join our country?” 

While Trump’s annexation threats have angered many Canadians, some Albertans would like to see Alberta become the next star on the U.S. flag. Calgary Lawyer Jeffrey Rath joined Fox News last year to talk about the “hundreds” of Albertans interested in joining the United States. Rath is part of a group including two former Alberta members of parliament called the “Delegation to Washington” that has reportedly met twice with Trump officials to promote an economic union with the U.S.

Dennis Modry, the former CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project, was also part of this delegation. According to Modry, on April 22, U.S. officials offered a $500 million transition loan to the province should it choose to leave Canada.

Smith has aided the group on multiple occasions, first by lowering the number of signatures required to force a referendum from 600,000 to 177,000, which one APP leader called a “big gift.” Smith then pushed through legislation to protect the referendum from challenges to its constitutionality. A recent poll found that only 19 percent of Albertans would vote in favour of separation, and multiple First Nations are challenging the referendum. 

Additional polling suggests that the vast majority of Albertans don’t support Trump. Yet Smith has cultivated strong ties with the MAGA movement. Last March, she travelled to Florida to speak with conservative influencer Ben Shapiro. The two cracked jokes about Trump annexing Canada at the event, which was also a fundraiser for PragerU, a right-wing media organization.

Smith also met with the Heritage Foundation shortly after the U.S. 2024 election, ostensibly to represent Albertan and Canadian interests. The Heritage Foundation is the architect of Project 2025, the plan to “dismantle the administrative state” which has been enacted by the second Trump administration.

Separatists, including Rath, had a second meeting with Trump officials to talk about Albertan independence this fall. Rath claimed that “the level of the meeting has been elevated as an indication of the strong support from the United States for Alberta independence.” 

Smith has justified her MAGA ties in the past by saying “I would say that all of those interactions are part of the reason why we were able to get a lower tariff rate. I think we were able to effectively make the case that Alberta energy resources do get sold to the Americans at a discount.”

But as Trump escalates his threats against Greenland, Smith hasn’t made any public statements or posted about her ties to his administration, including the Louisiana governor tasked with helping annex the territory.