In another provocative move, the president-elect of the USA, Donald Trump, published on social media a map showing the whole of Canada as part of his country.
Donald Trump continues to promote the idea of a very large territorial expansion of the US, without clarifying whether these are serious plans or provocations aimed at extracting economic or political concessions.
He made economic threats against Canada and refused to rule out military action over the Panama Canal and Greenland, in remarks that reached the United Nations.
In particular, for Canada, in the midst of a political transition after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he was resigning, Donald Trump ruled out sending troops. But he threatened to use “economic power” as he said yesterday that it is in the country’s best interest for Canada to become the “51st state” of the US.
“It would really be something to get rid of this artificially drawn line,” he said, referring to the US-Canadian border, before detailing his grievances against the big neighbor to the north, which he accuses of benefiting gratuitously from US military protection.
In the early hours of Wednesday (08.01.25) Donald Trump in two posts on thetruth, his social network property published two maps showing all of Canada as part of the USA.
Trump says he plans to use “economic force” to make Canada a state pic.twitter.com/fNxQ59FQlS
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 7, 2025
“There is not a one in a million chance that Canada will become part of the United States,” Trudeau wrote today in a post on Platform X. “Workers and communities in both of our countries benefit from being one of the largest trading partner and the safety of the other”
For Panama Canal and Greenland
When asked about the scenario of the forcible annexation of these two territories by the Americans, the representative of the United Nations secretary-general said: “The (United Nations) Charter puts very clearly the need for each member state to respect the territorial integrity of the others members”.
As for the highly strategic maritime axis of Central America and the vast territory of the Arctic, Donald Trump deemed both “very important to the economic security” of the United States during a press conference.
“I can’t assure you of either,” the president-elect specifically said when asked about the possible use of force to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland.
“China is the one that manages” the Panama Canal, assured the 78-year-old Republican billionaire, who will be sworn in on January 20, referring to this sea artery that belongs to the sovereign state of Panama.
As for Greenland, he assured that taking control of it was a matter of “national security”, citing Russian and Chinese ship movements, and threatened Denmark with “very high” customs duties if it did not leave the autonomous territory.
Although Donald Trump’s obsession with Panama is relatively new, his interest in Greenland is not: he had already floated the idea of buying the island during his first term, prompting strong opposition from local authorities. His son Donald Jr. was there today on a private trip.
Threats, intimidation and challenges
During his first term already, Trump had developed a rhetoric in which he presented US allies as exploiters whom he would bring back to order, playing as he did today, between ambiguity and challenge.
It is impossible to say at this time whether Trump, who will become the 47th president of the USA on January 20, seriously intends to increase the territory of the United States, also resorting to military force, or whether these high-profile “excursions” only serve to shape a balance of power in order to obtain economic or political concessions.
Source: www.diaforetiko.gr
