Trump Plans for Greenland, Panama Canal, and Canada

President-elect Donald Trump did not rule out using the military and economic force to take control of the Panama Channel and Greenland during a press conference held Tuesday in Florida, where he addressed a series of issues. American Voice correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports that Mr. Trump's comments were made hours after his son Donald Trump Jr. paid an unexpected visit to Greenland.

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

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

“No, I can't assure you about either of the two, but what I can say is that we need them on economic security issues.“, said Mr. Trump.

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

“The channel will remain in our hands forever. Today we see the Panaman flag waving freely, as if it had always been there”, Panama President Jose said Raúl Mulino.

Meanwhile, from 1941 the United States has a military base in Greenland, a territory of Denmark's Kingdom, but it enjoys broad autonomy.

“No one knows if Denmark enjoys any legal right to this territory, even if it is available, it should give up because it is necessary for us on national security issues as well as for the protection of the free world. You don't even need wax to see Chinese and Russian ships everywhere. We're not gonna let that happen.”, President-elect Donald Trump said.

But Danish Prime Minister Mattte Fredericksen has repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale.

She reiterated that stance on Tuesday, while American President-elect Donald Trump Jr's son arrived on an unprecedented visit to this territory.

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

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

“No, but we'll use the economic force. If we get rid of that line artificially set between Canada and the United States, and we'll see how it looks, it would be worth something and it would also be much better for national security. Remember, we basically defend Canada”, he said.

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

It remains unclear whether the president-elect American is aiming to move forward with these threats, realizing them, or using it as negotiating tactics as part of his first policy as he prepares to take office officially on January 20th.

“We live in a world where many of these decisions are not made on unilateral grounds. But even if the Trump administration wanted to be experienced and attack other countries, how realistic would the realization of these goals be? ”Says Thessalia Merivalki, expert at Georgetown University.

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

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