Trump does not rule out using force to take control of the Panama Canal

par Steve Holland et Joseph Ax

PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump refused on Tuesday to rule out the possibility of a military operation or economic measures for the United States to regain control of the Panama Canal and obtain sovereignty over the Greenland, country under the jurisdiction of Denmark.

During a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, where he resides, the Republican also said he plans to use “economic force” to subdue Canada, as he repeats his dissatisfaction with the balance of trade between the two neighbors, threatening Ottawa with significant customs taxes and evoking the theory of making Canada the 51st American state.

Asked whether he would refrain from resorting to the army or economic coercion for Panama and Greenland, he answered in the negative.

“I cannot give you any guarantees for these two (…) We need them for our economic security,” he declared, two weeks before his formal return to the White House.

Donald Trump, whose electoral victory last November against outgoing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris was certified by Congress on Monday, also expressed his desire to rename the Gulf of Mexico to make it the “Gulf of America” . “What a wonderful name,” he added.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, with contributions from Timothy Reid, Doina Chiacu and Gram Slattery; French version Jean Terzian, editing by Kate Entringer)