Donald Trump escalates plan to potentially redraw world map as Don Jr arrives in Greenland
The US could use military force to claim control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Donald Trump has declared in a major escalation of his territorial aspirations.
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The US could use military force to claim control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Donald Trump has declared in a major escalation of his territorial aspirations.
The President-elect also doubled down on trolling Canada as America’s “51st state”, suggesting he would use “economic force” to “get rid of that artificially drawn line”.
Since the election, the President-elect has turned his attention to acquiring the strategically important Arctic island of Greenland and the Panama-controlled shipping channel he has claimed is controlled by China.
Mr Trump upped the ante in a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate two weeks before his inauguration, when he was asked whether he could rule out using military force or economic coercion to take over both areas.
“I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you have to do something,” Mr Trump said.
“We need them for economic security.”
Asked whether he would also consider using military force to annex Canada, Mr Trump ruled that out.
But he said “economic force” was on the table, having recently threatened America’s northern neighbour with punishing tariffs that accelerated the demise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week.
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something,” Mr Trump said.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like … It would also be much better for national security.”
The outgoing Canadian leader hit back by saying there was not “a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States”.
The President-elect was speaking as his son Donald Jr visited Greenland, the island that is controlled by Denmark. He told reporters that his father “says hello” but that he and several of Mr Trump’s allies were “just here as tourists”.
In response, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: “Greenland is not for sale.”
She welcomed the US playing a larger role in the region, saying the superpower was “absolutely our closest ally”.
But she declared: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
Mr Trump said he had not yet drawn up specific plans to try and acquire the island.
But he maintained it was necessary “for the free world, I’m talking about protecting the free world”.
Greenland holds major mineral and oil reserves — though oil and uranium exploration are banned — and has a strategic location in the Arctic, already home to a US military base.
With 57,000 inhabitants spread out across 2.2 million square kilometres, Greenland is geographically closer to the North American continent than to Europe.
Colonised by the Danes in the 18th century, it is located about 2,500 kilometres from Copenhagen, on which it depends for more than half of its public budget.
The subsidies it receives from Copenhagen amount to a fifth of its GDP. The other pillar of its economy is the fisheries industry.
Greenland has been autonomous since 1979 and has its own flag, language and institutions. But justice, monetary, defence and foreign affairs all remain under Danish control.
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Originally published as Donald Trump escalates plan to potentially redraw world map as Don Jr arrives in Greenland
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