PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday he said he would not rule out the use of military force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, recognizing that US control over both areas is crucial to US national security.
He spoke to reporters less than two weeks before took office on January 20 and with a delegation of advisors and advisors that includes Donald Trump Jr. in Greenland, Trump has left open the question of using the U.S. military to secure both territories. Trump’s intention represents a rejection of decades of US policy that has favored self-determination over territorial expansion.
“I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump said when asked whether he would rule out using the military. There may be times when you need to do something. The Panama Canal is crucial to our country. He added: “We need Greenland for national security reasons.”
Greenland, home to a immense US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a long-time US ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump questioned the validity of Denmark’s claims to Greenland.
For over 25 years, the Panama Canal has been controlled exclusively by the country of the same name. The United States returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and in 1999 ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway.
Responding to Trump’s comments in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the United States Denmark’s “most important and closest ally” and did not believe the United States would use military or economic force to assert control over Greenland.
Frederiksen reiterated that she welcomed greater US interest in the Arctic region, but “it must be done in a way that is respectful to the Greenlandic people,” she said.
“At the same time, it must be done in a way that allows Denmark and the United States to continue to cooperate, among others, in NATO,” Frederiksen said.
Earlier, Trump posted a video of his private plane landing in Nuuk, the capital of the Arctic territory, amid a landscape of snow-capped peaks and fjords.
“Don Jr. and my representatives land in Greenland,” Trump wrote. “The reception was great. They and the Free World need safety, security, strength and PEACE! This is a deal that needs to be made. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
In a statement, the Greenland government said that Donald Trump Jr.’s visit was “in a private capacity” and not an official visit, and Greenland representatives will not meet with him.
Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha said his government had no formal contact with Trump or representatives of the incoming administration, but echoed earlier comments by the country’s president, José Raúl Mulino, who said last month that the channel will remain in Panamanian hands.
“The sovereignty of our channel is non-negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and irreversible conquest,” Martínez-Acha said.
Trump, a Republican, also supported Canada joining the United States as the 51st state. On Tuesday, he said he would not use military force to invade the country of more than 40 million people and one of the founding members of NATO.
Instead, he said, he would rely on “economic strength,” viewing the U.S. trade deficit with Canada – a natural-resource-rich country that supplies the U.S. with goods such as crude oil and petroleum – as a subsidy that would trickle down.
Canadian leaders returned fire after previously dismissing Trump’s rhetoric as a joke.
“President-elect Trump’s comments demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a post on X.
Justin Trudeaucountry social prime minister, was even more blunt.
“There is not a chance in hell that Canada will become part of the United States.” he wrote.
Promising an “American golden age,” Trump also said he would attempt to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “American Gulf,” saying it had a “beautiful connotation.”
He also said he believed NATO should dramatically augment its spending targets, with members of the transatlantic alliance committing to spending at least 5% of their GDP on defense spending, up from the current 2%.
in June NATO announced a record 23 of its 32 member states were well on their way to achieving this goal as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine raised the threat of expanding the conflict in Europe.
Trump also used his news conference to complain about the president Joe Biden questioned his coming to power the day after the incumbent took power ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.
Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, has used his authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Act to protect coastal areas along the East and West Coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. In all, Biden has withdrawn about 625 million acre-feet of federal waters from energy exploration, which could require reversing the congressional resolution.
“I’ll save it for day one,” Trump told reporters. He promised to take the matter to court “if necessary.”
Trump said Biden’s efforts – part of a series of recent actions by the Democratic administration while in office – undermine his plans once he takes office.
“You know, I was told that we would do everything in our power to make the transition to the new administration go very smoothly,” Trump said. “It’s not smooth.”
However, Biden’s team has provided Trump’s team with access and courtesies that the Republican former president initially denied Biden after winning the 2020 election. Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios in an interview published Monday that Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients “It was very helpful.”
In lengthy remarks, Trump also criticized the special counsel’s work Jack Smithwho oversaw now-discontinued criminal prosecutions for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and possession of classified documents after leaving office in 2021. The Justice Department is expected to soon release Smith’s report summarizing his investigation after the criminal cases were forced to end by November Trump’s victory.
