Donald Trump has said he does not rule out using military force or economic coercion to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
The US president-elect also said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and vowed to reverse a ban on offshore drilling announced by President Joe Biden on Monday.
The extraordinary comments came during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, one day after Congress formally certified his election victory.
Asked directly whether he could assure the world that he would not seek to use military or economic coercion in trying to get control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump responded: “I can’t assure you – you’re talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”
Trump has recently suggested that the United States should own or control Greenland, an autonomous territory ruled by Denmark, and has promised to “make Greenland great again”, but this is the first time he has suggested using the military to do so.
Trump’s willingness to use the military to take control of Greenland and the Canal comes despite his claim that he wants to avoid wars once he becomes President for the second time. After winning the presidential election in November, he claimed: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
Earlier on Tuesday he wrote on Truth Social: “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said in December: “Greenland is ours”, adding: “We are not for sale and will never be for sale.”
His eldest son, Donald Jr, is currently visiting Greenland, apparently in a private capacity.
Earlier on Tuesday, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Greenland was “not for sale” but that she was keen to co-operate with the US in the Arctic.
“We need a very, very close co-operation with the US. On the other hand, I would like everyone to respect that Greenlanders are a people. It is their country that is at stake here,” she told TV2.
Trump has recently spoken about taking control of the Panama Canal because of the high fees that Panama charges to ships sailing to America.
The Canal “was built for our military”, he said. “I’m not going to commit to that now. It might be that you’ll have to do something
“Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country.” However, it is being “operated by China”, he added.
The Panamanian President, Jose Raul Mulino, has previously rejected the notion of turning the canal back to the US, which owned it before handing control to Panama in 1999.
Asked later whether he would also use the military against Canada, which he has also floated the US acquiring, Trump replied: “No, economic force.”
However, he repeated previous statements that Canada should be the 51st US state.
He’s also again mocked the outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, by calling him “governor”.
“They should be a state, that’s what I told Trudeau when he came down,” he said.
He added that the US and Canada united would amount to an “economic force” that would “really be something”.
“We’re spending billions to protect Canada,” he said. “Why are we spending billions?”
Trudeau hit back, saying there was not “a snowball’s chance in hell” Canada would join the US. He added in a post on social media: “Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.”
The Canadian Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, dismissed Trump’s comments, posting on X: “President-elect Trump’s comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country … We will never back down in the face of threats.”
Another country in Trump’s sights is Mexico, which he has accused of doing too little to stop migration into the US at its southern border.
During the press conference, Trump said he wanted to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and repeated his promise to impose significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
“It covers a lot of territory,” he said of the Gulf. “‘The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name.”
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is expected to play a key role in looming US-Mexico trade issues, appeared to dismiss Trump’s call.
“Today I’d tell you if we saw each other in 30 years, the Gulf of Mexico will still be called the Gulf of Mexico,” he said, adding that the Mexican government would not get drawn into the debate.
Typically, the US Board of Geographic Names sets geographic names, though presidents have also renamed geographic features via executive action.
Trump also said Nato members should spend 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence, a significant increase from the 2 per cent target.
“I think Nato should have 5 per cent,” he said. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5 per cent, not 2 per cent.”
Trump will be inaugurated as president on 20 January.
