Imperial handwringing: why Trump wants Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to declare his intentions to increase the country's territory - for example, by buying Greenland or turning Canada into the 51st state. The politician also promises to return control over the Panama Canal to the states. Experts assess Trump's chances of realizing his promises in different ways, but they agree that Washington will still make some efforts to strengthen its presence in Greenland and Panama. What Trump's loud statements are related to and whether the sovereignty of the territories announced by the new US president is under threat - in the Izvestia article.
Trump's claims to the territory of Canada
Donald Trump wants to see Canada and Greenland as part of the United States. This he again made it clear by publishing on his page in the social network Truth Social a map on which their territories, like the United States, are painted in one color.
Speaking of Canada, Trump thought that making it the 51st American state would cut taxes there by 60% and increase its security. Trump announced his desire to make the country a new American state in early December, in a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He explained that such an option was possible if he imposed 25 percent duties that would "kill" the Canadian economy. This phrase caused "nervous laughter" among the participants of the meeting, Fox News reported. Trump reiterated his claims in early January, after Trudeau announced his resignation.
Ottawa, Canada
Donald Trump linked the possible introduction of 25 percent duties on Canadian goods (as well as goods from Mexico, which he also proposed to join the United States) with the problem of illegal migration and the movement of drugs across the border. He said drugs are now entering the country on an unprecedented scale, with both Mexico and Canada having the ability to "easily solve this long-standing problem." While the politician says many Canadians would like to see their country join the United States, a mid-December poll shows that only 13 percent of Canadians want that future for their country.
Despite the close economic and political ties between the United States and Canada, Trump's territorial claims should hardly be taken seriously, said Konstantin Sukhoverkhov, program manager at the Russian International Affairs Council. The politician's statements are addressed primarily to the patriotic feelings of his Republican voters, and they are hardly feasible in practice.
- Americans use Canadian jurisdiction for their own reasons, and Canadians for their own. For example, the latter go to America for cheaper medicines. The possible unification of Canada and the United States is not an obvious benefit, it is rather just a joke against the backdrop of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political failures," the expert said in a conversation with Izvestia.
US plans for the Panama Canal and Greenland
If Donald Trump's words about the possibility of joining Canada can be taken as a joke, the statements about the desire to establish control over the Panama Canal may have real grounds. The canal has belonged to America for virtually the entire past century. Washington did not hand it over to Panama until 1999. In December 2024, Trump promised that the U.S. would demand the return of control over the Panama Canal if the country did not revise the terms of its use. In addition, he accused the Panamanian authorities of transferring control over an important transportation artery to China. The head of the Panama Canal Authority, Ricaurte Vazquez Morales, rejected Trump's attacks.
A complete transfer of the Panama Canal under U.S. control is unlikely, says Konstantin Sukhoverkhov. However, he did not rule out that the US and Panama will exercise joint control over it, if the White House manages to lobby for its interests.
Panama Canal
As for Greenland, the island is needed by the US to secure its economic and military interests. According to Reuters, Trump is serious about getting Greenland, both to expand America's sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere and to cement his political legacy.
- For Trump, Greenland is an extra reason to remind about the strengthening of China and Russia, as well as to point out the reason for this strengthening - according to Trump, it is the actions of the Biden administration. In the current environment, buying Greenland is unlikely. Although the U.S. has expanded more than once through the purchase of territories, for example, Louisiana and Alaska, - said Konstantin Sukhoverkhov. - The international community, including the European Union, will surely support Denmark. But if we are talking about some real practical steps, then perhaps the U.S. will be able to sell Denmark on the issue of placing more U.S. military bases on its territory. Or it will be about mining permits for American companies.
Trump's determination on Greenland and the Panama Canal should not be underestimated, said Vladimir Vasilyev, chief researcher at the Institute of the United States and Canada.
- As for the military factor, Greenland can be occupied even now, no one will defend it. But it is important to maintain decorum, and I think that Europe and Denmark will simply cede it. There will be agitation among the local population, whose sympathies will also be bought," he told Izvestia.
The expert is sure that in the person of Trump, the US is thinking strategically and thoroughly. The purchase of Greenland, as well as the purchase of Alaska, will bring huge profits to the US in the future, given the natural resources of the island. Vladimir Vasiliev also considers the issue of buying back the Panama Canal "solved".
The Hill reported the other day that House of Representatives member Dusty Johnson intends to introduce a bill that would authorize the president to purchase the Panama Canal and put it under U.S. control.
West Greenland
It is worth recalling that Trump claimed Greenland already at the end of his first term. According to Vladimir Vasiliev, the policy of the elected American president indicates the end of the era of globalization and a return to the idea of seizing territories and resources.
- If you look at history, America has always developed in space. This development stopped at the end of the XIX century. And there is an opinion that American imperialism took the wrong path, when the United States began to spread its influence to Europe and Asia, without paying attention to what is happening on the North American continent," the expert concluded.
In his opinion, Trump has the ambition to correct this situation.
