The American interest in Greenland could have consequences for Danish business. Donald Trump will not rule out the use of economic or even military coercion to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland. This is what the future US president says at a press conference on Tuesday in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Here he is directly asked whether he will refuse to use military or economic coercion in relation to the Panama Canal as well as Greenland.
- No, I can't promise anything in relation to those two, but I can say this: We need them for our economic security, says Trump.
He also says that he is considering imposing a special tariff on Danish goods if Denmark does not agree to sell Greenland to the United States.
About this, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) says to TV 2:
- I think we should stick to trading with each other and do it in a proper way.
Also threats against other countries
Even before he took office as president, Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on goods from several countries - including Canada and Mexico. The threat of increased tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods is being repeated at a press conference in Florida on Tuesday evening Danish time. At the press conference, Trump also says that he is ready to use economic power to incorporate Canada into the United States.
- Canada and the United States - that would really be something, says Trump and calls for the removal of the "artificially drawn border" between the two countries.
But the statements are not being well received in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau writes on the social media X that "there is not a snowball's chance in hell that Canada will become part of the United States".
On the same media, Canada's Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, writes that "the incoming President Trump's comments show a total lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country".
- We will never bow to threats, she writes.
First threat to Denmark
While Trump has previously threatened other countries with higher tariffs, this is the first time that Denmark has been threatened with increased tariffs. Trump has repeatedly expressed that he wants Greenland to become part of the United States. Both after the presidential election in November and in 2019, when he was most recently president of the United States.
On Tuesday, son Donald Trump Jr. was in Greenland. In connection with his son's visit, Trump wrote on the social media site Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon that "they and the free world need security, safety, strength and peace".
- This is a deal that must be done, Trump wrote without being specific about which deal he was referring to.
On Tuesday night, he wrote in the same place that "Greenland must be made great again" - a pun on his own slogan from the election campaign about making America great again.
Just as in the case of Greenland, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire for the United States to gain control of the Panama Canal. The canal was excavated with the United States in the lead and was opened in 1914. In 1977, a process was initiated in which the Panama Canal was handed over to Panama. The canal was fully handed over to the Central American country in 1999.
Trump has accused Panama of charging excessive fees to American ships that pass through the canal. He has also alleged that Chinese soldiers control the waterway. Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president on January 20.
/ritzau/
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