President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to use “economic force” to annex Canada during a remarkable press conference where he also referred to his plans to annex Greenland and take control of the Panama Canal.
Replying to a question about Canada becoming the US’s 51st state he said:
“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 also be much better for national security.”
While admitting he has no right to do it he said he’d use economic force to merge the countries. He voiced his frustrations over U.S. defense spending and how much it costs to help protect Canada.
He also made complaints about the trade deficit.
“Why are we supporting a country 200 billion plus a year? Our military is at their disposal. All of these other things, they should be a state. That’s why I told Trudeau when he came down and I said that’s okay to have if you’re a state but if you’re another country we don’t want to have it.”
Trump also made multiple threats to upend the Canadian economy. Reaffirming his commitment to punishing tariffs on Canadian goods and saying there’s no need for Canadian auto exports, dairy products or lumber.
“Then we want to get along with everybody but you know they have to it’s got it takes two to tango,” Trump stressed.
Canada: There isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit back at Donald Trump’s threat to use “economic force” to absorb Canada into the US saying there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” of joining the two.
On Monday, an embattled Trudeau announced he was resigning, though he will stay on as prime minister until the governing Liberals elect a new leader, expected sometime by late March.
Trump on Canada, Greenland and Panama: U.S. expansionism?
Trump’s comments are part of a broader push for U.S. expansionism. In addition to questioning Canadian sovereignty, he called for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America.
He wants to annex Greenland, the sovereign Danish territory and take control of the Panama Canal. Trump also refused to rule out using military force to do so.
“I’m not going to commit to that now. It might it might be that you’ll have to do something.”
Donald Trump’s eldest son was dispatched to Greenland on a fact-finding mission.
“People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it but if they do they should give it up because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about,” Trump stressed.
On Monday he said that Greenland and its people “will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation.” “We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world,” he said. “Make Greenland great again!”
CNN commented that Trump‘s 21st-century neocolonialism is a huge risk and appears certain to run headlong into international law. And Trump could compromise America’s power by trashing alliances built up over generations and alienating its friends.
“It’s unlikely Trump will get what he wants with Canada, Panama or Greenland,” CNN opines.
“So his strategy might be aimed at getting better deals for the US—perhaps a discount for American vessels transiting the key waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, greater American access to rare earth minerals in Greenland and sea routes revealed by melting polar ice, as well as a new trade deal with Canada that might advantage US manufacturers.”
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