Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out invading Greenland or Panama has drawn ire from his critics, who derided the U.S. president-elect’s implied threats as “complete madness.”
“It’s bananas. It’s insane,” Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Himes told CNN, referring to Trump’s stated openness to using military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal during a rambling Tuesday press conference.
“I can’t assure you — you’re talking about Panama and Greenland — no, I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump replied when asked if he would rule out using economic or military coercion to take control of the two territories.
Trump has amplified his calls for U.S. territorial expansion in recent weeks, flagging the mineral-rich Arctic island and the strategic Central American trade waterway as his top targets, as well as repeatedly suggesting — apparently in jest — that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
In regards to Greenland, he has ascribed his expansionist aims to concern for U.S. national security.
“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he repeated during the Tuesday press conference. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to [Greenland], but if they do they should give it up because we need it for national security.”
Greenland, which was a Danish colony before becoming independent in 1979, remains a territory of Denmark, a NATO ally.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously rejected Trump’s proposals to buy the island, saying “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
“There is a lot of support among the people of Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future, either,” she said.
Trump’s repeated threats against U.S. allies since winning the Nov. 5 presidential election have rankled some Democratic lawmakers, including Himes.
“Denmark, which owns Greenland — I think that’s probably a fact that most Americans are learning — is a NATO ally. So it’s just complete madness from a national security standpoint, and it also is antagonizing,” fumed Himes, the U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 4th congressional district.
“We should not be gratuitously pissing these people off. Where is the economic benefit for the people who voted for Donald Trump when he’s off, you know, telling tales of Greenland and renaming the Gulf of Mexico?”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries took to X to express similar disapproval, writing: “House Democrats are focused on lowering the high cost of living in America. Not invading Greenland.”
But not all Democrats have come out against Trump’s expansionist vision for Greenland. Colorado Governor Jared Polis expressed openness to the plan, writing: “If it’s the choice of the people of Greenland to join the greatest country on earth, I would welcome them as our 53rd state, right after we admit Puerto Rico and Washington DC as states.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the president-elect’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., landed on the Arctic island and spent the day meeting with local residents, who he claimed were supportive of a U.S. takeover.
“Greenland loves America and Trump!!! Incredible people with an equally awesome reception,” was how he captioned a photo with a group of people in MAGA gear and an American flag.
The president-elect called into a lunch his son was holding in the island’s capital, Nuuk, to reiterate his claim that Greenland “needs security for itself, and it also needs security very much for the world.”
Representatives of Denmark and Greenland didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Seb Starcevic contributed to this report.
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