Trump says the US must take ownership of Greenland and threatens to take over the Panama Canal

On By Littum

Upper line

President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States should seek control of Greenland for national security reasons and threatened to take over the Panama Canal by force, marking the latest in a series of controversial foreign policy remarks Trump has made about allied nations.

Key facts

In one posts on his Truth Social platformTrump announced that he had chosen Paypal co-founder Ken Howery to serve as the next US ambassador to Denmark, writing: “For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

The Danish government has not yet responded to Trump’s comments and Howery simply has said he looks forward to working with the teams at “the US Embassy in Copenhagen and the US Consulate in Nuuk, Greenland to deepen the ties between our countries.”

Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix on Sunday, Trump repeated his complaints about “very unfair” fees charged by Panama for ships passing through the Panama Canal, saying the United States was being “ripped off.”

The canal was under US control until 1977 before it was handed over to Panama, but Trump said he would demand that “the Panama Canal be returned to us, fully, quickly and without question” unless the Panamanian government fulfilled its ” moral and legal” requirements.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino rejected the proposal in a video message says: “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent territory belongs to PANAMA and will remain so.”

Trump responded to this in a Truth Social saying“We’ll see about that,” posting a photo of the American flag over the canal along with it text “Welcome to the American Channel!”

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Crucial quote

“The channel has no control, either directly or indirectly, not from China or from the European Community or from the United States or any other power. As a Panamanian, I strongly reject any manifestation that distorts this reality. And it will continue to be on Panamanian hands as the inalienable heritage of our nation and guarantee its use for the peaceful and uninterrupted transit of ships of all nations as established by our Constitution and the Treaty of Neutrality,” Mulinos declaration added.