President-elect Donald Trump wouldn't rule out a war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and a hostile takeover of Greenland, owned by Denmark, during a press conference Tuesday.
In a rambling speech which was called to talk about bringing business to the U.S., Trump talked about inheriting a "world on fire," prompting reporters to ask about his stated foreign policy plan to acquire new "states."
Specifically, the reporter asked about Trump's intentions regarding Greenland and Panama, which Trump has said he'd be willing to invade to take back the Panama Canal. He's also referred to Canada as the 51st state in the U.S., implying he would also like to take over the neighbor to the north.
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"Can you assure the world that as you try to get control of these areas, you are not going to use military or economic coercion?" asked the reporter.
Trump said simply, "no."
"Can you tell us a little bit about your plan?" the reporter asked. "Are you going to negotiate a new treaty? Are you going to ask the Canadians to hold a vote? What is the strategy?"
"I can't assure you — you're talking about Panama and Greenland? No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military. I'm not going to commit to that. It might be that you'll have to do something," Trump continued, not defining what that "something" is.
"Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It's being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn't give it to China. And they've abused it. They've abused that gift. It should have never been made, by the way," Trump said.
He then went on a rant attacking the late President Jimmy Carter for the 1977 treaty with Panama, which he said lost Carter the election more than the Iranian hostage crisis.
If Trump invaded Greenland, it could force the U.S. into a war with NATO allies.
See the video below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be
