Make Canada 51st state, retake Panama Canal: Trump’s US expansion agenda
With just about two weeks left for his return to the White House, US President-elect Donald Trump suggested.
That he might use “economic force” to make Canada the 51st American state and refused to rule out military action to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland — part of a broader expansionist agenda that he has promoted since winning the November 2024 elections.
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump, who is scheduled to take office on January 20, also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and said he would demand far higher defence spending from Nato allies.
MAKING CANADA 51ST US STATE
The President-elect has been floating the idea of making Canada the 51st American state ever since he met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after winning the November 5, 2024 election. He has also mentioned this in several social media posts and, in some, also referred to the Prime Minister, who resigned on Monday, as “Governor Trudeau”.
When asked by reporters at Tuesday’s press conference if he would use military action to fulfil his idea of absorbing Canada into the US, Trump said, “No, economic force. Because Canada and the US, that would really be something.”
” You get rid of that artificially drawn line (US-Canada border), and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” he added. Trump also slammed American spending on Canadian goods and military support for the country, saying Washington “derives no benefits”.
In November last year, Trump announced that he planned to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods upon taking office unless both nations address the flow of migrants and drugs into the US.
Trump’s suggestion was, however, met with ridicule in Canada.
“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner,” Trudeau tweeted.
On her part, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the President-elect’s remarks “show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country … We will never back down in the face of threats”.
WON’T RULE OUT MILITARY ACTION TO ACQUIRE PANAMA CANAL, GREENLAND
At the press conference, Trump also spoke of retaking the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland from Denmark and refused to rule out military action to carry out his expansionist plans.
When asked whether he could assure the world that he would not use military or economic coercion as he tries to gain control of the Central American trade route and the autonomous territory of Denmark, the President-elect replied, “No, I can’t assure you of either of those two… We need them for economic security… The Panama Canal was built for our military.”
Since winning the election, Trump has reiterated his desire to annex the Panama Canal and also slammed former President Jimmy Carter, who died last month, for negotiating the treaty that ultimately gave Panama full control of the 51-mile waterway.
Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha pushed back on the incoming US leader’s threat, saying “the only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and that’s how it will continue to be”. The Republican has also suggested he would impose tariffs on Denmark if it resists his offer to purchase Greenland, which he said is “vital to US national security”.
In response, Denmark said Greenland was “not for sale”.
“I don’t think it’s a good way forward to fight each other with financial means when we are close allies and partners,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday night.
RENAME GULF OF MEXICO TO GULF OF AMERICA
At the same press conference, Trump announced that his administration would seek to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate,” he said.
The petroleum-rich body of water is the world’s ninth-largest, and has been identified on maps as the Gulf of Mexico since the 1500′s. Trump’s promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico echoed his previous vow to revert the name of Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, to Mount McKinley.
Former President Barack Obama changed the name of the Alaskan mountain in deference to Native Americans.
HELL WOULD BREAK OUT IF HAMAS DOESN’T RETURN HOSTAGES
The President-elect also reiterated his threat that if Hamas did not release all the hostages that it abducted when it waged war against Israel in October 2023, by the time he returned to the White House, “all hell will break out in the Middle East”.
“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” he said. During Hamas’s attack on Israel, around 250 hostages were taken to Gaza, of whom 96 remain. According to the Israeli military, 34 of them are dead.
NATO SPENDING
Trump said Nato members should spend 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence, a significant increase from the current 2 per cent target. “I think NATO should have 5 per cent,” he said. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5 per cent, not 2 per cent.”
The incoming US President has frequently complained that most Nato members are not paying their fair share, and he floated demanding an increase in defence contributions during the campaign.