Donald Trump has refused to rule out using military force to acquire Greenland and suggested he would apply economic pressure to bring Canada into the United States.
In an hour-long, deranged and rambling press conference, the president-elect declared that “no new windmills” would be built in the United States when he takes office, and even suggested that he might rename an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring,” Trump said. “That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.”
Asked if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take over the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland or the Panama Canal, he responded: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.
“But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”
Both Denmark and Panama have rejected any suggestion that they would give up territory.
Trump also vowed to use “economic force” when asked if he would attempt to annex Canada and called their shared border an “artificially drawn line”.
The boundary is the world’s longest between two countries and it was established in treaties dating back to the founding of the US in the late 1700s.
The president-elect said the US spends billions of dollars protecting Canada, and he criticised imports of Canadian cars, lumber and dairy products.
“They should be a state,” he told reporters.
But outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” of the two countries merging.
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