Filippo Attili/EPA
Donald Trump
The future US president once again suggested controlling the three regions – and in two of them he admits military attacks. “We are not for sale.”
The issue is not new but, this Tuesday, Donald Trump reiterated ambitions about annex the Panama Canal and Greenland, “by force if necessary”.
At a press conference at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the next President of the United States once again spoke about expansionist ambitions, a theme he had already defended in his previous term as head of state (2017-2021).
When asked if he could guarantee that would not use the Armed Forces to annex the Panama Canala vital point for international navigation, and the Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, Donald Trump responded that he cannot provide any guarantees: “I will not compromise therefore”.
Panama
The elected President has already on several occasions intended to annex the Panama Canal, built by the United States and opened in 1914, if the price of fees for North American ships is not reduced.
At the same press conference, Trump once again criticized the agreement signed in 1977 by then President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024), which led to the transfer of control of the canal to Panama in 1999; the channel was controlled by the USA until then. It is used to transport ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
This Tuesday, Trump accused Panama of imposing Expensive ticket fees to US ships, in addition to repeating that China controls the canal.
Greenland
At the same time, the son of the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump Junior, began on Tuesday a private tour of Greenland.
“Greenland is an incredible place and so are the locals, if and when they are part of our nation, they will benefit greatly (…) ‘MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’, wrote Donald Trump on social media.
The autonomous Danish territory, which seeks to obtain sovereignty but remains financially dependent on Copenhagen, is coveted by natural resources – although oil prospecting and uranium extraction are prohibited.
The region is also important from the point of view geostrategic The United States has a military base in Greenland.
Canada
But annexing Canada is also in Trump’s plans. The president-elect thinks the U.S. they spend too much money protecting the neighboring country and who are lose a lot of money in business with the neighbors.
Defends a kind of fusion – here not with military power, but with “economic strength”; thinks it would be simpler. And he threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada.
Donald Trump had already said that Canada could become the 51st state of the USA.
USA, Greenland and Canada together, in one country: “Trump, drawing with felt-tip pens: “If you put this up here and this island together, The USA is the largest country in the world!””, journalist Luís Ribeiro.
France Presse journalists who were at the press conference noted that “as usual, it was difficult to distinguish between real advertisements and exaggerated sensationalist statements” the Trump.
Reactions
Whether real announcements or exaggerations, this press conference has already generated reactions from senior officials.
“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland“said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “As the head of the regional government, Mute Egede, stated, Greenland is not for sale,” Mette Frederiksen told Danish television channel TV2.
Denmark’s chief executive also said that the United States is her country’s closest ally.
The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Noel Barrot, said this Wednesday that the European Union will not allow countries to “attack sovereign borders” of the European bloc.
Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark, is “a territory of the European Union”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Paris government on France Inter radio.
In Canada, resigning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau guaranteed that “never, ever” will Canada be part of the United States: “Never, ever, will Canada be part of the United States“, stressed Trudeau, through the social network.
“Workers and communities in both countries benefit from the fact that we are their largest trade and security partners,” added the Canadian leader.
Panama’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javier Martinez-Acha, warned that the sovereignty of the Panama Canal “is not negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and irreversible achievement”.
