Trump said he would not consider using military force against Canada, but surprisingly refused to rule out using force to get the United States to take control of the Panama Canal and acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.
US President-elect Donald Trump continued to threaten on January 7 to impose significant tariffs on other countries and said he would be willing to use “economic force” to annex Canada to the United States.
In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau played down US President-elect Donald Trump’s willingness to use economic force to annex Canada to the United States by reiterating what his Canadian government has long said: a merger of the two countries is impossible. There is no chance in hell that Canada will become part of the United States, Trudeau wrote on the social network X.
Trump made the remarks from Mar-a-Lago, a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down from office and party leadership once the Liberal Party of Canada has chosen a successor.
Canada and the United States, that would really be something, Trump said at a news conference. If you take away the artificially drawn border line and look at what it is like… it would also be better financial security, he declared.
Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico starting on his first day in office, January 20, unless both countries strengthen border security.
Logs lifted by a machine
The World Trade Organization ruled in Canada’s favor in a long-running dispute with the United States over U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian softwood lumber exports. Trump now says his country does not need Canadian lumber.
Trump’s threats: Four liberal lessons for dealing with a bully
Trump said he would not consider using military force against Canada, but surprisingly refused to rule out using force to get the United States to take control of the Panama Canal and acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.
I can’t assure you of any of that, but I can say this: we need them for economic security, he said of Panama and Greenland. He said he would impose tariffs on Denmark at a very high level if that country does not cede Greenland to the US.
Panamanian, Danish and Mexican officials did not immediately comment. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino previously rejected the idea of ceding Panamanian sovereignty of the canal to the United States, which owned it before returning territorial control to Panama in 1999.
On January 7, Trump also said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name! declared the bombastic American politician.
