Trump's explosive proposal this morning: annex Canada, control Greenland?

Author: jk, Odaily Planet Daily

On Tuesday, January 7, local time in the United States, Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. This press conference was initially promoted as an announcement for economic development, revealing the plan of Dubai developer Damac Properties to invest $20 billion in building data centers in the U.S. However, Trump subsequently discussed several new topics related to U.S. geopolitics. In what can be described as a "groundbreaking" press conference, Trump proposed four new directions: increasing NATO members' military spending, making Canada the 51st state of the U.S., not relinquishing military control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf."

Trump has often made many political promises, but now he has truly become the "Supreme Leader" who can control both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House. Who knows if he will have the determination to implement these changes and disrupt North American geopolitics?

Using Economic Means to "Annex Canada"

Source: Truth Social

On the day of the press conference, Trump posted a tweet on Truth Social, suggesting that many Canadians would be willing to become a new state of the U.S., which could reduce the fiscal deficit and tariffs, as well as threats from Russia and China. When asked about the seriousness of this topic, Trump made it clear that he "was not joking," implying that if Canada remained a sovereign nation, the financial costs of its trade relationship with the U.S. could be devastating.

When asked if he would attempt to annex Canada, Trump vowed to use "economic means," stating that the shared border between the two countries is a "man-made line." However, in reality, this border is the longest international border in the world, established by treaties dating back to the late 18th century when the U.S. was founded.

Trump stated that the U.S. spends billions of dollars each year protecting Canada and criticized the import of Canadian cars, lumber, and dairy products, saying, "They should become a state," he told reporters.

According to BBC reports, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau stated that the merger of the two countries "is not a possibility at all."

Earlier reports indicated that Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, stating that he did not receive enough support within the Liberal Party to lead it into this year's election. Potential competitors for Trudeau's successor, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, posted on social media that Canada "will not back down in the face of threats." Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has stated that Canada "will never" become a state of the U.S.

Cannot Guarantee Not to Use Force to Control the Panama Canal and Greenland

During the press conference, Trump repeatedly mentioned the costs incurred by the U.S. in building the canal and accused China of currently operating the canal. Subsequently, several news outlets published fact checks clarifying that the operation of the canal has nothing to do with China. When asked if he might order the military to force Panama to relinquish the canal or take similar measures against Greenland, he stated, "No, I cannot guarantee you that."

If force were indeed used, it would violate treaties and other agreements made during the Carter administration, which he has often criticized.

According to the New York Times, Trump's exact words were: "We need them to ensure economic security— the Panama Canal was built for our military purposes," he said. When asked again if he would rule out the use of military force, he replied, "I won't commit to that. We may need to do something."

The President of Panama later refuted Trump's claims, stating that "the canal absolutely has no Chinese interference."

Regarding Greenland, Trump believes that there are several Russian and Chinese ships operating around Greenland, thus Greenland will be closely related to U.S. national security and safe navigation. He stated at the press conference that if Denmark does not hand Greenland over to the U.S., he would "impose very high tariffs on Denmark," questioning Denmark's legitimate sovereignty over Greenland.

At this time, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. was visiting Greenland. Before arriving in the capital Nuuk, Trump Jr. stated that he would be taking a "personal day trip" to talk with locals and had no plans to meet with government officials.

The Danish Prime Minister immediately stated after the press conference that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people."

Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group noted that Trump's justifications are similar to those made by Putin for invading Ukraine. He publicly stated, "American imperialism is back." It's hard to imagine this phrase coming from a European.

Trump told reporters, "I am talking about protecting the free world."

Let NATO Members Increase Military Spending Proportion for U.S. Troops

According to the New York Times, Trump claimed that NATO members have made slow progress in fulfilling their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense funding and should now be prepared to spend 5%.

"They can all afford it, but they should spend 5%, not 2%," Trump said, threatening again that if any NATO ally does not pay enough in his view, he would not protect them.

Trump's criticism of NATO continues a bipartisan narrative: George W. Bush, Obama, and Biden have all raised this issue, and during Biden's term, the progress toward the 2% goal has been the greatest, with even some European leaders privately agreeing that if Europe wants to build sufficient military power to deter Russia in the coming decades, the target should be raised to 3%. They often add that there is no political basis for reaching this level.

According to NATO's latest assessment, 23 of the 32 allies are expected to reach the 2% (defense spending as a percentage of GDP) target by 2024, compared to only 3 in 2014. But now, Trump has made it clear that this level should be raised to 5%, or else he would threaten to withdraw troops.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf"

Trump stated that the U.S. will rename the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf," linking this potential renaming to his long-standing dissatisfaction with Mexico's handling of immigration, drug trafficking, and trade, and made related comments.

"We will rename the Gulf of Mexico to American Gulf (also known as Gulf of America)," Trump said at the press conference. "…… What a beautiful name, and it is very appropriate."

The Gulf of Mexico adjacent to Florida, source: Google

This body of water has many names, but European explorers and cartographers have used the name "Gulf of Mexico" for at least 400 years.

While the U.S. federal government has existing mechanisms to rename recognized geographic names, even if the federal name is officially changed, it does not mean that other countries will recognize this change.

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene immediately stated that she plans to introduce legislation in Congress to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

"I have instructed my staff to immediately begin drafting legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico to American Gulf," Greene wrote on social media. "This is very important for starting to provide funding for changing maps for all federal agencies (such as the FAA and the military)."