Trump won't rule out force to acquire land
Says Greenland, canal are needed for security
By: Josey Garrison
USA Today
WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday [01/07/2025] repeatedly declined to rule out involving the U.S. military to carry out his ambitions for the U.S. to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal in a news conference that included a range of other topics.
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"No," Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club when asked whether he can rule out military or economic coercion in the two locations. "No, I can't assure you of either of those two. But I can say this: We need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military."
..... trump also reiterated hat he aims to pardon January 6 [2021] defendants who stormed the Capital four years ago. Another plan he mentioned in the news conference was the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.
..... "We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Gulf of America - what a beautiful name," he said at the news conference. "And it's appropriate."
..... He did not spec fly when or how he intends to make the change, saying he would provide those details as a future date. "We're going to change, because we do most of the work there, and it's ours," he said.
..... U.S. Representative Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said immediately afterward in a social media post that she would introduce a bill to officially change the name of the body of water off Mexico and the southerner U.S.
..... Since winning the 2024 election, trump has openly discussed the U's. acquiring Greenland, a mineral-rich territory controlled by Denmark, and the Panama Canal since 1999 following a deal orchestrated by the late President Jimmy Carter 22 years earlier. Trump has also publicly pondered the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.
..... "I'm not going to commit to that," Trump said when asked specifically about military force to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland. "It might be that you'll have to do something."
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Trump said he is not considering military force to annex Canada - whose longtime prime minister, Justin Trudeau, resigned Monday [01/06/2025] - but said he hopes the U.S. can acquire the neighboring country to the north through "economic force."
..... "Canada and the United States - that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would alls be much better for national security," Trump said.
..... Trump called the Carter-era Panama Canal deal "a disgrace," accusing the Panama Canal authority of charging more for the entry of U.S. ships than other nations. He said China is effectively operating the canal.
..... "T Hey charge more for our Navy than they charge for navies of other countries,: Trump said. "T Hey laugh at us because they think we're stupid, but we're not stupid anymore. So the Panama Canal is under discussion with them right now. They violated every aspect of the agreement, and they've morally violated it also."
..... Trump said the U.S. needs Greenland, which has a population of about 56,000 people, for "national security purposes." He questioned whether Denmark, which has controlled Greenland since 1814, has a "legal right" to the territory and predicted Greenland's people will vote to join the U.S. He warned that if Denmark does not give up Greenland, the U.S. would "tariff Denmark at a very high level."
..... "The U.S. has got to draw plans for acquisition," Trump said, adding that his team is "not at that stage."
..... Trump's son Donald Trump Jr, arrived in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, for a private visit Tuesday. [01/07/2025] A spokes, for the president-elect's son said Trump Jr. would not be meeting with government officials and is instead "popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting."
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"No I am not buying Greenland," Trump Jr. said in a podcast on Monday. [01/06/2025] "Funny enough, I'm actually going on a very long personal day trip to Greenland."
..... During the Tuesday [01/07/2025] news conference, Trump also said NATO member countries "were taking advantage" of the U.S. and should be paying more than double what they currently are required to pay for their military defense.
..... "They could all afford it, but they should be at 5% not 2%," said Trump, talking about members countries' contribution as a percentage of their gross domestic product, or economic output.
..... In February, [2024] Trump caused an uproar when he said during a campaign event that he'd told a NATO leader that if a country had not paid their "bills, he would "encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want."
..... Trump repeated the anecdote on Tuesday, [01/07/2025] this time identifying the leader as a "prime minister," saying, "Well, they weren't paying their bills. I said, 'We're not gonna protect you. You're not paying the bills.' "
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Trump said he "took a lot of heat" in February [2024] for saying that the U.S. would not protect them if they were "delinquent."
..... "I would've loved to have said 'Yes, we'll protect you even if you don't pay.' " he said Tuesday. [01/07/2025] "But that's not the way life works."
..... As for the pardons, Trump previously signal he would undertake them. Trump's latest remarks came a day after lawmakers gathered to witness the counting of the electoral votes and certify his victory in the 2024 presidential race.
..... In January 2021, Trump supporters, driven by false claims of election fraud, faced off with police officers and unlawfully broke into the capitol building to oppose President Joe Biden;s 2020 win. Over 1,000 defendants tied to the attack have been charged with crimes.
..... "People that didn't even walk into the building are in jail right now. So we'll be looking at the whole thing but I'll be making major pardons, yes," he said when asked whether he was planning to pardon rioters charged with violent offenses.
..... Trump had previously called January 6 [20231] rioters "warriors" and said at a rally in June [2024] that "there has never been people treated more horrifically than J6 hostages."
..... Democrats have opposed Trump's plan to pardon the rioters.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Sudiksha Kochi and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today.