PALM BEACH, Fla. -- President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security.
Speaking to reporters less than two weeks before he takes office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories, a shift that would reject decades of U.S. policy that has prioritized self-determination over territorial expansion.
"I'm not going to commit to that," Trump said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military. "It might be that you'll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country." He added, "We need Greenland for national security purposes."
Greenland, home to a large U.S. military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark's claim to Greenland.
The Panama Canal has been solely controlled by the eponymous country for more than 25 years. The U.S. returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.
Addressing Trump's comments in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the United States Denmark's "most important and closest ally," and that she did not believe that the United States will use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.
Frederiksen repeated that she welcomed the United States taking a greater interest in the Arctic region, but that it would "have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people," she said.
"At the same time, it must be done in a way that allows Denmark and the United States to still cooperate in, among other things, NATO," Frederiksen said.
Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha said his government hasn't had formal contact with Trump or representatives of the incoming administration but reiterated previous comments from the country's president, José Raúl Mulino, who said last month that the canal will remain in Panamanian hands.
"The sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest," Martínez-Acha said.
Trump, a Republican, has also floated having Canada join the United States as the 51st state. He said Tuesday that he would not use military force to invade the country, which is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner.
Instead, he said, he would rely on "economic force" as he cast the U.S. trade deficit with Canada -- a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities such as crude oil and petroleum -- as a subsidy that would be coming to an end.
Canadian leaders fired back after earlier dismissing Trump's rhetoric as a joke.
"President-elect Trump's comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats," Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a post on the social media platform X.
Justin Trudeau, the country's outgoing prime minister, was even more blunt.
"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," he wrote.
Promising a "Golden age of America," Trump also said he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," saying that has a "beautiful ring to it."
He also said he believes that NATO should dramatically increase its spending targets, with members of the trans-Atlantic alliance committing to spend at least 5% of their GDPs on defense spending, up from the current 2%.
In June, NATO announced a record 23 of its 32 member nations were on track to hit that target as Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine has raised the threat of expanding conflict in Europe.
Trump also used his news conference to complain that President Joe Biden was undermining his transition to power a day after the incumbent moved to ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.
Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, used his authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska's Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. All told, about 625 million acres of federal waters were withdrawn from energy exploration by Biden in a move that may require an act of Congress to undo.
"I'm going to put it back on day one," Trump told reporters. He pledged to take it to the courts "if we need to."
Trump said Biden's effort -- part of a series of final actions in office by the Democrat's administration -- was undermining his plans for once he's in office.
"You know, they told me that, we're going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth," Trump said. "It's not smooth."
But Biden's team has extended access and courtesies to the Trump team that the Republican former president initially denied Biden after his 2020 election victory. Trump incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios in an interview published Monday that Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients "has been very helpful."
In extended remarks, Trump also railed against the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw now-dropped prosecutions over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and possession of classified documents after he left office in 2021.
US ATTORNEY APPOINTED
Trump on Monday tapped Nassau County Judge Joseph Nocella Jr. as his pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York.
Nocella will replace Breon Peace, who announced last month he'll step down from the job as top federal prosecutor covering Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island on Jan. 10 -- just days before Trump's inauguration. Biden appointed Peace for the spot in 2021.
"Judge Nocella has a strong record of bringing Law and Order to the incredible people of New York, serving as a Nassau County District Court Judge, and Family Court Judge," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Monday night, announcing the pick.
Nocella earned his bachelor's degree from Fordham University, where Trump also studied before transferring to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and later graduated from Columbia Law School, Newsday has reported.
He began his legal career in private practice working in litigation in both New York and Los Angeles. From 1991 to 1995, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District's criminal division.
Returning to local government after his federal tenure, Nocella worked in various legal roles in Nassau County, serving as the Hempstead town attorney from 2021 to 2022, and as chief of staff to the Hempstead town supervisor from 2020 to 2022, according to Newsday.
He was also the Oyster Bay town attorney from 2017 to 2020, according to Newsday. In addition, he held positions as counsel to Nassau County's Office of Housing and Community Development and as a counsel to the county executive and legislature.
His most recent post was as a Nassau County District Court judge in November 2022.
Information for this article was contributed by Will Weissert, Zeke Miller, Robert Gillies and Jill Colvin of The Associated Press and by Elizabeth Keogh of The New York Daily News (TNS).
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)