Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) says Canada, Panama and Greenland should be "honored" by President-elect Trump's ambitions to make them part of the United States.
"I think that the people of Panama, I think that the people of Greenland, I think that the people of Canada for that matter should be honored that President Trump wants to bring these territories under the American fold," the newly sworn-in lawmaker said during a Wednesday afternoon appearance on CNN.
However, leaders from all three nations have railed against Trump's efforts, which he recently said could be undertaken by military force.
"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partner," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday on the social platform X.
Canada's Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, echoed the same sentiments.
The Panama Canal Authority chief, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, emphasized that Trump's efforts to take over the canal or gain preferential rates for passage would "violate" international law and wreak chaos on the nation.
While Greenland has made strides toward independence from Denmark, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also reiterated that the Arctic territory is not for sale.
Despite the collective pushback, the president-elect lauded Donald Trump Jr.'s trip to Greenland amid the controversy.
President-elect Trump must wait until his inauguration to take official action, and it's unclear whether these swipes will materialize with full-fledged Republican support.
However, Gill said the foreign acquisitions would be a worthy effort.
"This is a Democratic Party that is more interested in advancing the interests of criminal, illegal aliens on American territory committing crimes against American citizens than they are in advancing the interests of this nation," Gill said earlier in the interview.
"I find that utterly repugnant, and that is something President Trump is going to fix," he added.
