In a somewhat disjointed press conference on Tuesday (7), elected President Donald J. Trump refused to rule out the use of military or economic coercion to force Panama to relinquish control of the canal that the United States built over a century ago and to pressure Denmark to sell Greenland to the United States.
Trump repeatedly returned to the theme of American sacrifice in building the canal and falsely accused China of operating it today. When pressed on whether he could order the military to force Panama to give it up — in violation of treaties and other agreements made during the Carter administration — or do the same with Greenland, he said: “No, I can’t guarantee anything about those two.”
“We need them for economic security — the Panama Canal was built for our military,” he said. When asked again if he would rule out the use of military force, he replied: “I’m not going to commit to that. You may have to do something.”
Trump’s statements confirm his repeated calls to expand American territory to a new level, one that is bound to disturb three American allies — Panama, Denmark, and Canada, which he has already mocked as the “51st state” of America. On Tuesday, he made it clear, however, that he was not joking, suggesting that if Canada remained a sovereign state, the financial cost to its trade relationship with the United States could be overwhelming.
The new statements show that the elected president approaches American foreign policy with the mindset of a real estate entrepreneur with a propensity to take territory.
The threats, vague as usual, were just part of the series of statements Trump made about his plans when he takes office in less than two weeks. He said that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed “Gulf of America,” although it was not clear how seriously he spoke about the matter.
Trump also reiterated his threat that “hell will break loose in the Middle East” if the hostages held by Hamas are not released by inauguration day, repeating the threat four times.
How do world leaders respond to Trump’s threats?
The Foreign Minister of Panama, Javier Martínez-Acha, told reporters on Tuesday (7) that the country would never hand over the Panama Canal to any country.
“The sovereignty of our canal is non-negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible achievement,” he said. “The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and will remain so.”
The Prime Minister of Greenland, Mute B. Egede, rejected Trump’s plans for the territory. “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland,” he said. “Our future and struggle for independence are our business.”
Meanwhile, Canadian leadership reacted angrily to the elected president’s threat to use “economic force” against the country to acquire it, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying in a social media post that “there is no chance of Canada becoming part of the United States.”
Source: The New York Times