From his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the American president-elect, Donald Trump, held a press conference on Tuesday, January 7, largely devoted to his future international policy. Donald Trump notably declared that the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must increase their defense budget to 5% of their GDP. “They can all afford it”assured the Republican billionaire, who will take office on January 20. “They should be at 5%, not 2%. »
Last February, during an electoral rally in South Carolina, Donald Trump provoked strong reactions by calling into question the principle of solidarity between NATO member states, accusing his allies of being “bad payers”. This charge by the candidate in the Republican primary against the American allies is not new: during his first term (2017-2021), Donald Trump already criticized an supposed imbalance between the allies on the financing of the Atlantic Alliance.
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The future American president also threatened to use “economic strength” against Canada, after having affirmed the day before that it was in the interest of this ally of the United States to become the « 51e Etat » American.
“No, economic strength”responded the president-elect to the question of whether he planned to use the armed forces to annex Canada, saying that this neighbor was “subsidized” by the United States for its protection. Shortly after the announcement of the resignation on Monday of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Donald Trump estimated that Canada should “merge” with the United States.
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Donald Trump does not rule out possible annexation by force of the Panama Canal and Greenland
Donald Trump also refused to rule out the idea of using force to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland. “I can’t assure you about either of them.”declared the president-elect, when asked about a possible use of armed forces to annex the canal, a vital artery of global maritime transport, and Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. During this provocative press conference, Donald Trump added that the two were “very important for economic security” of the United States.
Donald Trump has already stated on several occasions that he wants to take back the Panama Canal, built by the United States and inaugurated in 1914, if the price of tolls for American ships were not reduced. On Tuesday, he again criticized the agreement signed in 1977 by the then Democratic president, Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), which resulted in a transfer of control of the canal to Panama in 1999.
Just before Christmas, Donald Trump also judged that, “For national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”. The president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr, also arrived in Greenland on Tuesday for a private visit, as “tourist”claiming not to have planned any official meetings.
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Donald Trump announced that upon his return to the White House the United States would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, on the southern coast of the country, to “Gulf of America”. “We’re going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which sounds good and covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a nice name »declared the future American president, before castigating Mexico which “must stop letting millions of people pour into our country”.
