Donald Trump, President-elect Donald Trump, outlined on Tuesday an ambitious plan to expand the United States by gaining control of Greenland and possibly even Canada.

He did not rule out the possibility of military action in order to take over Greenland or the Panama Canal, but he said that he would use economic force alone to make Canada a part of the United States.

He questioned Denmark’s legal claim on Greenland and criticized China’s role in the operation of the Panama Canal. He also criticized the late President Jimmy Carter’s decision to transfer the canal to Panama back in 1979.

He said, “I’m speaking about protecting the world free,” at a Mar-a-Lago press conference in Florida.

He set the tone for a strong foreign policy less than two weeks prior to his Jan. 20, 2019 inauguration.

You don’t need binoculars. You look outside. Look around. You can find Russian ships everywhere. “We’re not going to let that happen,” said Mr. Trump.

Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland as Mr. Trump was speaking. He did not have any meetings scheduled with officials.

Since his first term in office, Mr. Trump set his sights on Greenland. He wanted to give the U.S. an Arctic strategic foothold as well as improve its posture towards Russia and China.

Greenland hosts a large U.S. Military base.

Mr. Trump’s beef against Panama is a result of China’s presence, as well as the high fees that U.S. Navy ships pay to use the Canal.

Panamanian president Jose Raul Mulino insisted that China was not running the waterway. However, a Chinese company holds a large stake in the ports at the Atlantic and Pacific end of the canal.

Mr. Trump had proposed to buy Greenland in his first term, but failed to pursue the deal. NATO ally Denmark is in control of the territory.

When asked if he would exclude the use of force, Mr. Trump replied “I won’t commit to that.” It’s possible that you will have to take action. Our country needs the Panama Canal. Greenland is vital to our national security.”

He said that if Copenhagen intervenes the U.S. “will impose a very heavy tariff on Denmark.”

Trump has said that he does not have any concrete plans to buy Greenland despite having floated this idea repeatedly. Last month, when announcing the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark as his nominee, Mr. Trump said that “for the purposes of national safety and freedom throughout the globe… the possession and control of Greenland was an absolute necessity.”

John R. Bolton (a former ambassador at the United Nations) identified several key benefits of U.S. control over Greenland. These include buffering Russia’s impact and blunting China’s desire to become an Arctic power.

Bolton told The Washington Times Mr. Trump’s tactics are self-defeating.

He said that Trump’s remarks about sending Donny Jr., a democratically-elected Greenland government, pushed the local government and the democratically-elected Danish government in a corner. “Trump is undermining the goals he claims to want. Trump may be having fun with this. Greenland and Denmark are not enjoying this. “If he is serious about trying get security for the United States he should button it.”

Mette Frederiksen, Danish Prime Minister said that Greenland was “very, very clear” that it is not being sold and that this will continue to be the case.

Trump also warned, on another front of foreign policy, that “all Hell will break loose in the Middle East,” if Hamas did not release their hostages before he returned to the White House. Since the terrorist group attacked Israel in October 2023, it has held hostages on the Gaza Strip.

He said: “If the hostages don’t return, it won’t be good for Hamas and, quite frankly, it won’t be good for anyone.”

Steve Witkoff (Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy) briefly joined the conference to say, “We are making great progress” in the release of the hostages. They “really hope that by the inaugural we’ll be able to announce some good news.”

During the press conference that lasted over an hour, Mr. Trump also made several other statements. They include:

* He announced that Dubai’s Damac Properties would spend $20 billion on building data centers in the U.S.

* He wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

* He called Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith “deranged” and railed against Democrats “weaponization justice.”

* He pledged to reverse some of the executive actions taken by President Biden that banned offshore drilling in federal water.

He called the conflict “complicated” and predicted that Russia will escalate its war against Ukraine.

Trump claimed that Panama was squeezing U.S. vessels passing through the canal. The U.S. constructed the canal at the beginning of the 1900s in order to connect the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

He called the decision to give the canal to Panama a “disgrace”, and said that Panama had not kept its end of bargain. The U.S. returned control of the canal zone to Panama in 1999. This was under President Carter.

On Tuesday, Mr. Carter was laid to rest at the U.S. Capitol. He died on December 29th at age 100.

He said, “They laugh because they think that we are stupid.” “But we are not stupid any more, so right now the Panama Canal is being discussed with them.”

Mr. Trump claimed that, in the case of Canada he would be able to create a powerhouse for the U.S. economy and improve border security by bringing Canada under U.S. rule.

He said that joining Canada and the United States would be “really something.”

“You remove that artificially drawn border, you look at it, and that would be better for national safety,” said Mr. Trump.

He said that the U.S. spent “hundreds and billions of dollars” annually to protect Canada, but “needs nothing they have.”

“We don’t need cars. “We don’t want their lumber,” said Mr. Trump. He did not mention that the U.S. imported 140 million barrels per month of crude oil from Canada. This is more than the 20 million barrels per month from Mexico, the U.S.’s second largest importer.

He called on hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, to replace Justin Trudeau who announced his resignation Monday.

Officials from Canada have stated that Canada will never become a part the U.S.

Conservative commentator Jed Babbin suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s expansionist rhetoric was in line with his modus operandi to keep “our allies on edge and our enemies feeling safer than they should.”

He probably thinks that bullying Panama would reduce the [canal] fee. It could be w