Can US grab Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal? Decoding Trump’s ‘threats’

While the Indian right wing keeps harping on an “akhand Bharat”, Donald Trump, who will officially become the US President only on January 20, already seems to be dreaming of an “akhand” United States, complete with Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal, and who knows what next!

Trump, who at this moment sounds a bit like a new-age Genghis Khan, first fumed in an interview to NBC News that if the US were subsidising Canada and Mexico, they should rather become American states as well.

Not many took that remark — or his subsequent jibes about former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau being the “Governor of Canada” — seriously. But now, Trump has followed it up with a comment that he would use “economic force” to make Canada a part of the US.

While he has promised that he would not use military force to acquire Canada, he has not ruled out that possibility for the Panama Canal or Greenland, ruffling many a feather in that part of the world. He has also floated the possibility of renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.

Also read: ‘Will use economic force to make Canada part of US’, says Trump

That’s not all. Speaking at the same presser from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday (January 7), Trump demanded a massive hike in NATO partner countries’ defence spending from the existing 2 per cent of their GDP to 5 per cent. Or, he has threatened a US exit from the military alliance.

So, what is behind Trump’s sudden expansionist agenda? Is it just wishful thinking by a real estate mogul wanting more land? Is it mere tough talk or can he actually go ahead and do what he has threatened to do? Let’s explore.

Why does Trump want to acquire Greenland?

Trump’s fascination for Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is not new. He had expressed a wish to acquire Greenland during his first term (2017–2021) too. At that time, it was actually “a large real estate deal” for him, because he thought a lot could be done with this huge tract of land that was “hurting Denmark very badly”.

Now, Trump has made newer points to justify why acquiring Greenland might be a great idea for the US. According to his posts on his Truth Social platform, it would be good for national security and freedom “throughout the world”, as Greenland would bring the US closer to Europe, facilitating better monitoring of political rivals such as Russia and China.

With its access to the Arctic Sea, Greenland would also shorten the shipping route, cutting US dependence on the Panama Canal. Besides, Greenland’s rich deposits of minerals such as copper, cobalt, and lithium would make it a gold mine for the production of batteries and electric vehicles.

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Can Trump buy Greenland?

Incidentally, the last time the US bought a territory was from Denmark. That was way back in 1917, when the US acquired the Danish West Indies (renamed as Virgin Islands) from Denmark for $25 million in gold coins to establish its military presence in the Caribbean. Also, in the late 19th century, the US took control of the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico, all of which barring Philippines continue to be US territories.

However, this time, neither Denmark nor Greenland has taken very warmly to Trump’s suggestion. Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Egede, has maintained that Greenland is “not for sale”, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has made it clear that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders”.

While Egede wrote on Facebook that “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland. Our future and fight for independence is our business”, Frederiksen said though he was “pleased regarding the rise in American interest in Greenland…only Greenland can determine and define Greenland’s future”.

However, Greenland is heavily dependent on the $521-million annual grant that Denmark provides it with. According to The Financial Times, this amount comprises two-thirds of its annual budget. So, even if Greenland becomes independent, for which it has been pushing, it may end up aligning with the US simply for economics’ sake.

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Otherwise, Trump will have to negotiate a treaty involving both Greenland and Denmark. However, as of now, that seems a distant possibility. But then, Trump has not ruled out the possibility of using the US military to achieve his Greenland ambitions. He has also threatened to “tariff Denmark at a very high level”.

What about the Panama Canal?

The Panama Canal is an 82-km artificial waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean located in Panama, a country in Latin America, at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America.

It was the US that built the Panama Canal in 1904. The object was quick and cheap shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. However, after years of dispute, the US in 1999 transferred control of the canal and the Panama Canal Zone to Panama under a treaty signed by the late US president Jimmy Carter in 1977.

Trump has called the decision a folly that squandered away a US advantage. He has claimed that China, and not Panama, is operating the waterway and that American ships were being discriminated against in transit fees. While it is true that Beijing-owned firms do run some ports in Panama, the allegations of discrimination are false.

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However, like Greenland, the Panama government has also rejected Trump’s grand vision. “The sovereignty of our canal is non-negotiable,” its foreign minister Javier Martinez-Acha has said at a press conference. But then, Trump has in this case too not ruled out the possibility of using force. If that happens, it would be nothing but a mockery of international law and sovereignty of nations.

Why talk of annexing Canada?

In some relief to Canadians, Trump did not threaten to send in American troops to take over Canada. Instead, he threatened to use “economic force” so that it becomes the 51st US state.

Trump believes the US-Canada border is an “artificially drawn line” that ought to be obliterated. In a social media post on Tuesday, shortly after Trudeau resigned as the Canadian prime minister, Trump wrote, “If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!”

Previously, Trump has threatened to impose a blanket tariff of 25 per cent on all goods from Canada and Mexico if they do not do enough to plug illegal migration and drug flow across their massive borders with the US.

Can Trump annex Canada?

A swift reaction to Trump’s “threat” came from Trudeau: “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”

Besides, Trump’s threats of imposing steep tariffs violate the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — sealed during his first term — that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to regulate the largely duty-free trade between the three countries.

Canada’s economy relies heavily on its trade with the US but the US has around a $40-billion trade deficit with Canada, thanks to Canada’s oil exports. Trump has long expressed his desire to eliminate this deficit.

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Ironically, this wish by a US head of state to annex Canada is not new. In the past, the US has repeatedly tried to invade what is now Canadian territory, but was then a bunch of British colonies. In fact, it was the threat of an American invasion that the province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) joined hands with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to form the Canadian federation in 1867.

But then, Trump being Trump, he may just push forward with the idea as a new-age coloniser. If he does so, the “Republicans would never win an election again… (because) the “state of Canada” would profoundly alter the electoral map of American national politics, almost entirely in the Democratic Party’s favour”, wrote Carleton University professor Aaron Ettinger in an article for The Conversation.

The import of Trump’s expansionist vision

Trump’s disruptive statements drove a chunk of the world into a tizzy on Tuesday. In the same breath, he more or less indicated that he supported Russia for launching the Ukraine war because they had “somebody right on their doorstep”, and he “could understand their feelings” about not wanting Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Trump has already vowed to plug all support to Ukraine it received from the Joe Biden administration. While Trump had also asserted that the US should avoid new foreign entanglements, his latest musings are in stark contrast to that. However, they are totally in line with his “America First” policy.

His “threats” may get the US some better trade and commerce deals from Canada, Greenland or Panama. But for that, he risks losing friends such as Canada and alienate entire populations in other territories. How far he goes with these threats remains to be seen.