President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would not rule out the possibility of using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, emphasizing their strategic significance to U.S. national security.
Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said that he “cannot assure” that military or economic coercion would not be used to take control of these two strategic locations, in response to a question.
“No, I can’t assure you on either of those two, but I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump responded.
“It might be that you'll have to do something. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift.”
Trump in recent social media posts expressed his frustration over China’s expanding influence in the canal, despite it having been built by the United States more than 110 years ago at great financial and human cost.
The Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 after a decade of construction led by the United States, was gradually handed back to Panama under a 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter.
During his speech, Trump criticized Carter for handing over the Panama Canal.
“Carter gave it to them for $1. ... I thought it was a terrible thing to do. It was the most expensive structure ever built in the history of our country,” Trump said.
The president-elect said that this action cost Carter the election in 1980.
In 1999, Panama assumed full control of the canal, which has since become one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Trump reiterated that 38,000 people died during the waterway’s construction.
“They laugh at us because they think we’re stupid, but we’re not stupid anymore. So the Panama Canal is under discussion with them right now,” Trump said during the press conference.
Trump also said the United States needs Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for “national security purposes.”
“People have been talking about it for a long time. You have approximately 45,000 people there,” Trump said.
“They should give it up, because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world.
“You have China ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen. We’re not letting it happen.”
Trump questioned whether Denmark has any right over Greenland.
“The people are going to probably vote for independence or to come into the United States,” he said.
If Denmark rejected the U.S. proposal, Trump said, he “would tariff Denmark at a very high level.”
Under the separate 1977 Neutrality Treaty, Panama and the United States agreed that the waterway would remain permanently neutral with fair access and tolls for all countries. Hence, any Chinese challenge to this pact may require the United States to employ military force.
In 2017, Panama cut long-standing diplomatic ties with Taiwan to establish closer ties with China. It also became the first Latin American country to endorse Beijing’s infrastructure plan, the Belt and Road Initiative. Since then, Chinese companies have been heavily involved in logistics and infrastructure projects near the canal, including port operations on both ends of the waterway.
Trump earlier criticized what he called the “exorbitant” fees Panama has been charging the United States, its Navy, and U.S. corporations for passage.
On Dec. 22, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded to Trump’s social media posts about the Panama Canal by saying that “every square meter” of the canal belongs to his country.
In a televised address, Mulino said that Panama’s sovereignty and independence were non-negotiable.
Denmark Responds to Trump
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded to Trump’s comments about using economic or military pressure to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal.“I can’t imagine it will ever come to that,” she said on Jan. 7 in an interview with Danish TV, downplaying the possibility of such actions.
She also addressed Trump’s suggestion of imposing tariffs on Denmark, emphasizing that the United States and Denmark should maintain strong trade relations.
“In the world we live in right now, I will strongly encourage more economic cooperation between allies and not the opposite,” she said.
She also reiterated that Greenland’s future should be determined by the people of Greenland.
Her response was notably more measured than her reaction in 2019, when she dismissed Trump’s initial offer to buy Greenland as “absurd.”
In 2019, Trump canceled a planned visit to Denmark, calling Frederiksen’s remarks “nasty” and “inappropriate.”
Trump later indicated to reporters that his idea was normal by referencing past U.S. efforts to purchase the strategic island, including Harry Truman’s proposal to buy it for $100 million in 1946.
According to Trump’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, the territory is expected to become increasingly important in the coming years.
“It’s strategically very important to the Arctic, which is going to be the critical battleground of the future,” O’Brien told Fox News on Dec. 29, adding that “the Russians and Chinese are all over the Arctic” and that Denmark is unable to adequately defend the vast island.
On Dec. 22, Trump announced his appointment of PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. In his message, Trump reiterated his idea to take ownership of Greenland.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.
Howery, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term, will represent U.S. interests in the region, Trump said.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a statement: “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.
“We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
