(Reuters) President-elect Donald Trump did not guarantee on Tuesday that he would rule out military or economic action as part of his stated desire to have the US regain control of the Panama Canal and acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.
Asked at a press conference if he could assure the world that he would not use military or economic coercion to try to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said: “No, I can’t guarantee either of those. But I can say this: we need them for economic security.”
The extraordinary statement was made as Trump further outlined an expansionist agenda, two weeks before taking office on January 20 in Washington.
He reiterated his interest in turning Canada into a US state and criticized US spending on Canadian products and military support for Canada, one of the country’s closest allies.
Trump suggested he would impose tariffs on Denmark if it resisted his offer to buy Greenland, which he said was vital to US national security. Denmark has said that Greenland is not for sale.
Trump also promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and reiterated his pledge to impose significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
“It covers a lot of territory,” he said of the Gulf. “’The Gulf of America’ What a beautiful name.”
His promise to rename the Gulf echoed an earlier promise to revert the name of Denali, North America’s highest peak, to Mount McKinley. Former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaskan mountain in deference to Native Americans.
Mexican and Panamanian authorities did not comment at first. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has already rejected the idea of returning the canal to the US, which owned it before handing over control to Panama in 1999.
Trump said that NATO members should spend 5% of their Gross Domestic Product on defense, a significant increase from the current target of 2%.
“I think NATO should have 5%,” he said. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%.”
The press conference, Trump’s second since he won the November 5 election, was held a day after Congress formally certified his victory.
The January 6 certification, a basic and largely ceremonial step required by the US Constitution, was interrupted in 2021 when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the formal confirmation of US President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Last Monday’s ceremony was held under heavy security, but went off without incident.