U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to rule out invading Greenland or Panama when asked if the U.S. could use military force to acquire the Arctic island or the Central American canal.
Asked if he would rule out economic or military coercion to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Trump said, “I’m not gonna commit to that. No. It might be that you’ll have to do something.”
“I can’t assure you — you’re talking about Panama and Greenland — no, I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump said in response to the question at a press conference. “But I can say this: We need them for economic security.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire for the U.S. to purchase Greenland, describing the Danish territory and world’s largest island as an “absolutely necessity” for American security.
“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he said Tuesday. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do they should give it up because we need it for national security.”
He has also previously demanded Panama restore ownership of the Canal to the U.S. The U.S. signed over control of the critical maritime trade route to Panama in 1977.
Trump added, “Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama, we didn’t give it to China.”
This story is being updated.
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