Trump threatens to take over Canada, the Panama Canal, Greenland

On By Littum

President-elect Donald Trump has once again reiterated his desire for US territorial expansion. In a message delivered on Christmas Day, Trump took aim at the Panama Canal and Greenland, while also addressing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly.

“Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China who lovingly but illegally operate the Panama Canal,” the president-elect began in a Truth Social post, before claiming that “38,000 people” died during the waterway’s construction. (The BBC has previously fact-checked that the number was closer to 300.) He went on to write, “The US is putting billions of dollars in ‘reparations’ money, but will have absolutely no say in ‘anything’.”

Trump then mocked Trudeau, referring to him as “the governor” of Canada, and again floated the idea of ​​the country becoming the “51st state” while promising that its “taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their companies would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world.”

The president-elect also reiterated his earlier intention to bring Greenland under American control, writing that the territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, “is needed by the United States for reasons of national security and which wants the United States to be there. , and we will!”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede made it clear on Monday that the area was not for sale. “Greenland is ours,” said the Prime Minister in a declaration. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our year-long fight for freedom.”

However, the Danish Prime Minister’s Office issued one separate statement says the government “looks forward to welcoming the new US ambassador. And the government looks forward to working with the new administration.”

On Monday, the Danish government later announced a huge boost in defense spending for Greenland, per BBC.

Trump also took the opportunity to deliver another holiday message Wednesday, urging Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky — who joined in Trump in Mar-a-Lago after his election victory in November – to run for Prime Minister of Canada. “I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in ice hockey circles,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post. “I said, ‘Wayne, why are you running for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as Governor of Canada — you’d win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’