Associated Press
First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland.
The President-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he’s picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20.
In a Sunday announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote that, “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.”
Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the President-elect suggested over the weekend that the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn’t done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
He’s also been suggesting that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.”
Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said Trump tweaking friendly countries harkens back to an aggressive style he used during his days in business.
“You ask something unreasonable and it’s more likely you can get something less unreasonable,” said Farnsworth, who is also author of the book “Presidential Communication and Character.”
“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” he said in a statement. “We must not lose our years-long fight for freedom.”
Trump canceled a 2019 visit to Denmark after his offer to buy Greenland was rejected by Copenhagen, and ultimately came to nothing.
He also suggested Sunday that the U.S. is getting “ripped off” at the Panama Canal.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question,” he said.
Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,” but Trump fired back on his social media site, “We’ll see about that!”
The President-elect also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, “Welcome to the United States Canal!”
The United States built the canal in the early 1900s but relinquished control to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
The canal depends on reservoirs that were hit by 2023 droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships, administrators also increased the fees that shippers are charged to reserve slots to use the canal.
The Greenland and Panama flareups followed Trump recently posting that “Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State” and offering an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag.
Trudeau suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump’s threats to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods.
“Canada is not going to become part of the United States, but Trump’s comments are more about leveraging what he says to get concessions from Canada by putting Canada off balance, particularly given the precarious current political environment in Canada,” Farnsworth said. “Maybe claim a win on trade concessions, a tighter border or other things.”
He said the situation is similar with Greenland.
“What Trump wants is a win,” Farnsworth said. “And even if the American flag doesn’t raise over Greenland, Europeans may be more willing to say yes to something else because of the pressure.”
___
Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
13 comments
SARAH REE
December 23, 2024 at 1:58 pm
US Dollar 2,000 in a Single Online Day Due to its position, the United States va02 offers a plethora of opportunities for those seeking employment. With so many options accessible, it might be difficult to know where to start. You may choose the ideal online housekeeping strategy with the tr-20 help of this post.
Begin here>>>>>>>>>>>>>> dub.sh/9kxxF3e
Tom
December 23, 2024 at 2:26 pm
I’d almost forgotten how effing stupid trump is. The flashbacks are starting already and he’s not even in office yet.
George Greenfield
December 24, 2024 at 1:54 am
I essentially make about $9,000-$13,000 every month on the web. It’s sufficient to serenely supplant my old employments pay, particularly considering I just work around 10-13 hours every week from home. I was stunned how simple it was after I attempted it duplicate underneath web…..
Begin here>>>>>>>>> Payathome9.Com
Larry Gillis, Libertarian (Cape Coral)
December 23, 2024 at 2:47 pm
Obviously, this Churl learned his negotiating skills in the back alleys of Queens.
If I were Greenland, I’d start by revoking the Thule Airbase treaty and giving him 30 days to vacate.
(DeGaulle gave us a full nine months in 1967, I believe, to get out of France. He was being gallant)
Paul Passarelli
December 23, 2024 at 4:06 pm
Do you realize that the American personnel at the base are slightly more than 1% of the population of the island? That’s ~57,000 Greenlanders vs ~590 living on the base; apropos of nothing.
I seriously doubt that Denmark is going to even kick snow on the ambassador’s shoes over the remark, much less attempt to renegotiate the base’s location.
Larry, you claim to be a Libertarian. That means you claim, and seem to have the vocabulary to back it up, to be more intelligent than the average Democrat. So why the hate on the New Yorker?
I get it when a slow simpleton feels inferior, and lashes out, when confronted by the fast-paced way he speaks & delivers ideas, but I suspect you know better and are still venting bile. Why? Curious minds want to know.
Linwood Wright
December 23, 2024 at 2:55 pm
The only people dumber than Donald Trump are the people who actually voted for this clown.
Paul Passarelli
December 23, 2024 at 4:09 pm
Yeah, we’re so dumb, we failed to understand how good Bidenflation is for our long term wealth, and how much safer we are under his incompetent administration.
The Donald Presents...Shitshow 2, the sequel
December 23, 2024 at 3:32 pm
We must have Greenland! We must take back the Panama Canal! (Now, everyone go batshit crazy over those two dumbass ideas and don’t even think about how I nominated Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General of the United States.)
Cindy
December 23, 2024 at 3:35 pm
Remote work isn’t just a trend, it’s the future of work. Work Remotely from your own house. We just want your typing skills, You can make more than 120USD/Hr. No matter where you are. Let’s Grow together and do great things, even if we’re far apart…
Take a Look…
Begin here>>>>>>>>> Workjoin7.Com
Paul Passarelli
December 23, 2024 at 3:51 pm
Buying Greenland would give us an almost unlimited supply of ice cubes to help combat MMGW (Man Made Global Warming).
Why is the Left so apposed to this common sense approach?
{removes tongue from cheek}
Bill Pollard
December 23, 2024 at 7:35 pm
Even before Trump takes office, he will have offended many, if not most, of our allies. He keeps asserting that Japan’s imports to the US be levied 25% tariffs and Japan is also offended. Trump is going to cause great harm to the US economy and he has already destroyed our relations with countries who were faithful allies for many years.
Ocean Joe
December 24, 2024 at 11:40 am
People forget how he ruined American soybean production with tariffs, ended up paying for it with huge subsidies to save the farmers, and then saw China abandon America for Brazil, which in turn expedited clearing of the Amazon to meet the Chinese demand.
A win-win for folks who love corporate welfare and hate the environment.
On the other hand, Merry Christmas, the billionaires are back in charge.
Cindy
January 4, 2025 at 9:08 pm
Didn’t Canada have a fall out with a shik leader .
Migration of colonies don’t work well when thousands are closing off the alumni
Comments are closed.