Trump's plans for Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada

2025-01-08 16:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

President-elect Donald Trump did not rule out using military and economic force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland during a press conference held Tuesday in Florida, where he addressed a number of issues. VOA correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports that Mr. Trump's comments came hours after his son, Donald Trump Jr., made a surprise visit to Greenland.

President-elect Donald Trump said the United States should control both Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory, and the Panama Canal, which connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

At a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Tuesday, Mr. Trump was asked whether he would rule out the use of military or economic force to achieve that goal.

"No, I can't assure you of either, but what I can say is that we need them, for issues related to economic security," Mr. Trump said.

Last week, Panama celebrated the 25th anniversary of the transfer of control of the Panama Canal from the United States to the authority of this country.

"The channel will remain in our hands forever. Today we see the Panamanian flag flying freely, as if it had always been there," said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.

Meanwhile, since 1941, the United States has had a military base in Greenland, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, but which enjoys extensive autonomy.

"Nobody knows if Denmark has any legal rights to this territory, even if it does, it should be relinquished, because for us it is necessary for matters of national security as well as for the protection of the free world. You don't even need binoculars to see Chinese and Russian ships everywhere (in Greenland). We will not allow it to happen," said President-elect Donald Trump.

But Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale.

She repeated this position on Tuesday, while the son of the US president-elect, Donald Trump Jr., arrived for an unannounced visit to this territory.

"I'm making it very clear, Greenland belongs to our people," she said.

During the press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump was also asked whether he would use military force to annex Canada, which he has suggested should be part of the United States.

"No...but we will use economic force. If we get rid of that artificially drawn line between Canada and the United States, and see what it looks like, it would be something of value and it would also be much better for national security. Remember, we basically protect Canada," he said.

In a post on social media, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote that "there is no way Canada will become part of the United States."

It remains unclear whether the US president-elect intends to follow through on these threats, carrying them out, or use them as a negotiating tactic as part of his America First policy as he prepares to officially take office on January 20 .

"We live in a world where many of these decisions are not made on a unilateral basis. But even if the Trump administration wanted to be expansionist and attack other countries, how realistic would it be to achieve these goals?!", says Thessalia Merivaki, an expert at Georgetown University.

Mr Trump repeated his threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods unless both countries strengthen security at their border with the United States.

He also said that after taking office he will rename the Gulf of Mexico, calling it the Gulf of America./VOA