Written by Steve Holland and Joseph Ax
PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – US President-elect Donald Trump refused on Tuesday to rule out whether to use military or economic action to pursue the acquisition of the Panama Canal and Greenland, part of a broader expansion plan he has promoted since winning the November 5 election.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into an American country, said he would demand the highest defense budget from NATO allies and promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
With two weeks to go before he takes office, Trump has begun unveiling an aggressive foreign policy with little regard for diplomatic considerations or the concerns of America’s allies.
Asked at a press conference at his Florida resort if he can assure the world that he won’t use military or economic force as he tries to control the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said, “No, I can’t guarantee anything. Of those two, I can say this, we need them for our economic security.
Trump criticized America’s use of Canadian goods and military support for Canada, saying the US has nothing to gain by doing so, and called the border between the two countries “an illegally drawn line.”
He suggested that he will charge Denmark if it opposes his request to buy Greenland, which he said is important to American national security. Shortly before Trump’s comments, his son Don Jr. came to Greenland for a private visit.
Denmark has said that Greenland, which is a self-governing part of its kingdom, is not for sale.
“I don’t think it’s a good way forward to fight each other financially when we are close friends and allies,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday night in response to Trump’s comments.
CANADA SAYS: ‘WE WILL NEVER GO BACK’
Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, told X, “President-elect Trump’s comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats.”
Panama’s top diplomat also rejected the incoming US leader’s threat to retake the world’s most important waterway, which the US built and owned before ceding the Central American country in 1999.
“The only hands that control this canal are the Panamanians and it will continue like that,” Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha told reporters on Tuesday.
Ambassador Daniel Fried, a retired US spokesman who is now at the Atlantic Council, said Trump’s comments painted a picture of national power as territorial expansion and compared him to a “19th century imperialist.”
Taking Greenland, Fried said, “will destroy NATO, because it will make us no different than Vladimir Putin,” the Russian president.
Trump’s pledge to rename the Gulf of Mexico is similar to his previous pledge to rename Denali, the highest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley. Former President Barack Obama renamed a mountain in Alaska in honor of Native Americans.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is expected to play a key role in the US-Mexico trade crisis, appeared to dismiss Trump’s call to rename the shared waters later Tuesday.
“Today I would tell you that if we see 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 enter into the discussion.
Generally, the US Board of Geographic Names sets place names, although presidents have also renamed geographic features by executive action.
THE DISSOLUTION OF NATO
Trump said NATO members should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, a significant increase from the current 2% target.
“I think NATO should have 5%,” he said. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%.
Trump has often complained that most NATO members don’t pay their fair share, and floated demands for increased NATO defense contributions during the campaign.
NATO estimates that 23 of its 32 members will meet their goal of spending 2% of GDP by 2024.
None of the alliance members, including the US, currently spends 5% of GDP on defense, according to NATO figures. Poland is the biggest spender in terms of GDP at 4.12%, followed by Estonia at 3.43% and the United States at 3.38%.
Trump repeated his threat that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if the Palestinian terrorists Hamas do not release them when they took the hostages they captured from Israel on October 7, 2023, and are still holding in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s not going to be good for Hamas, and it’s not going to be good, frankly, for anybody,” he said.
His ambassador to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told the media that he hopes there will be positive things to report about the talks between Israel and Hamas when Trump is sworn into office.
COMING SPACES
The free, hour-long press conference, Trump’s second since winning, echoed similar incidents during his presidential campaign.
He made a series of general complaints about his criminal convictions, including attacking Justice Juan Merchan, the New York judge scheduled to convict Trump on Friday of falsifying business records about secret payments to the porn star.
A New York appeals court denied his latest request to stay the sentence shortly after his press conference.
Separately, as Trump spoke, a US judge temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from issuing a report on his investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election.
The judge, Aileen Cannon, had previously dismissed a lawsuit accusing Trump of illegally withholding classified material after he left office.
Tuesday’s event was held in a lavish living room at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach resort. A number of Trump’s top advisers watched the proceedings, while club guests could be seen outside eating on the terrace.
Trump was also asked if it is appropriate for Elon Musk to comment publicly on foreign affairs. In recent weeks, the billionaire Trump ally has used his X platform to comment on European politics, including voicing support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany.
“I would say Elon is doing a great job, a very smart guy,” Trump said. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
