Trump refuses to rule out using US military to take control of Greenland, Panama Canal

07 January

President-elect Donald Trump says he will not commit to refraining from using military or economic coercion to assume control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, and might consider “economic force” to take control of Canada.

“It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump told reporters at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence Tuesday (video below), less than two weeks before he will be sworn in to office as the 47th President of the United States.

“Can you assure the world that as you try to get control of these areas, you are not going to use military or economic coercion?” Trump was asked.

“No,” Trump immediately replied.

“And can you tell us a little bit about what your plan is? Are you going to negotiate a new treaty? Are you going to ask the Canadians to hold a vote? What is the strategy?”

“I can’t assure you — you’re talking about uh, Panama and Greenland,” Trump responded, not answering the questions about plans or strategy. “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But uh, I can say this, we need them for economic security — the Panama Canal was built for our military.”

“I’m not going to commit to that now. It might it might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump continued, talking over the reporter. “Uh, look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. China, and we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China.”

When another reporter said to Trump, “can you elaborate you didn’t rule out military coercion?” he replied, “We need Greenland for national security purposes. I’ve been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time. You have approximately 45,000 people there.”

“People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world,” Trump said, suggesting taking over another sovereign nation’s territory would protect freedom.

“You look at, you don’t even need binoculars. You look outside, you have China, ships all over the place, you have Russian ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen. We’re not letting it happen.”

NBC News added that Trump “said later that he would not use military force against Canada, only ‘economic force.'”

“’That would really be something,’ Trump said of the U.S. taking control of Canada. He has quipped lately that it should become the 51st U.S. state.”

“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like. And it would also be much better for national security,” Trump claimed.

Former Lincoln Project executive director Fred Wellman, an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and is now a political consultant and the host of the podcast “On Democracy,” weighed in:

“Seems like familiar language,” he warned. “ ‘…the reunification [of Germany and Austria] is a life task to be carried out by all means! German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland… People of the same blood should be in the same REICH.’ ”

China is not operating the Panama Canal. Chinese companies have made investments in ports near the canal, but the Panama Canal is operated by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), a government agency of the Republic of Panama, according to the bipartisan think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. Axios recently reported that “China has become increasingly influential in its operations since” the U.S. gave Panama back the canal in 1999.

In 2021, CSIS noted that China’s “increasing presence in and around the Canal has made the waterway a flashpoint for U.S.-China competition over spheres of influence.”

Journalist Alan Fisher warned, “Let’s be clear what [Trump] is saying – we will take by force, the land another Democracy has…… Remember he ran on an anti- war platform and is now threatening both Denmark and Panama.”

Daily Beast opinion columnist Rotimi Adeoye responded to Trump’s comments, saying: “Gen-Z voters who supported Trump should realize that if any war happens they will be the first to go. Trump is not pro-peace.”

Some have noted that Greenland, a territory of Denmark, is by extension part of NATO, and the U.S. already operates a military base on Greenland: Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), a U.S. Space Force installation.

Watch videos of Trump’s remarks above or at this link.

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