Trudeau says no chance Canada joins U.S. as Trump threatens ‘economic force’
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump refused on Tuesday to rule out using military or economic action to pursue the acquisition of the Panama Canal and Greenland, part of a broader expansionist agenda he has promoted since winning the Nov. 5 election.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a U.S. state, said he would demand far higher defense spending from NATO allies, and promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Still, two weeks away from taking office, Trump has begun outlining an aggressive foreign policy with little regard for diplomatic considerations or the concerns of U.S. allies.
Asked at a press conference at his Florida resort whether he could assure the world he would not use military or economic coercion as he tries to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said, "No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security."
Trump criticized American spending on Canadian goods and military support for Canada, saying the U.S. derives no benefits from doing so and called the border between the two countries an "artificially drawn line."
He suggested he would impose tariffs on Denmark if it resisted his offer to purchase Greenland, which he said is vital to U.S. national security. Shortly before Trump's comments, his son Don Jr. arrived in Greenland for a private visit.
Denmark has said Greenland, a self-governing part of its kingdom, is not for sale.
"I don't think it's a good way forward to fight each other with financial means when we are close allies and partners," Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said late on Tuesday in response to Trump's comments.
CANADA SAYS: 'WE WILL NEVER BACK DOWN'
Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Melanie Joly, said on X, "President-elect Trump's comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats."
Panama's top diplomat also pushed back on the incoming U.S. leader's threat to retake the key global waterway, which the U.S. had built and owned before handing over control to the Central American nation in 1999.
"The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and that's how it will continue to be," Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha told reporters on Tuesday.
Ambassador Daniel Fried, a retired U.S. diplomat now with the Atlantic Council think tank, said Trump's comments painted a picture of national power as territorial expansion and compared him to a "19th century imperialist."
Seizing Greenland, Fried said, "would destroy NATO, because it would make us no different than Vladimir Putin," Russia's president.
Trump's promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico echoed his previous vow to revert the name of Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, to Mount McKinley. Former President Barack Obama changed the name of the Alaskan mountain in deference to Native Americans.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is expected to play a key role in looming U.S.-Mexico trade issues, appeared to dismiss Trump's call to rename the shared body of water later on Tuesday.
"Today I'd tell you if we saw each other in 30 years, the Gulf of Mexico will still be called the Gulf of Mexico," he said, adding that the Mexican government would not get drawn into the debate.
Typically, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names sets geographic names, though presidents have also renamed geographic features via executive action.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
NATO SPENDING
Trump said NATO members should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, a significant increase from the current 2% target.
"I think NATO should have 5%," he said. "They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%."
Trump has frequently complained that most NATO members are not paying their fair share, and he floated demanding an increase in NATO defense contributions during the campaign.
NATO estimated that 23 of its 32 members would meet its goal of spending 2% of GDP in 2024.
None of the alliance members, including the U.S., currently spends 5% of GDP on defense, according to NATO figures. Poland is the highest spender in GDP terms at 4.12%, followed by Estonia at 3.43% and the United States at 3.38%.
Trump also repeated his threat that "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if Palestinian Hamas militants do not release by the time he takes office hostages it abducted from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and still hold in the Gaza Strip.
"It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone," he said.
His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters he hopes to have good things to report on negotiations between Israel and Hamas by the time Trump is sworn into office.
FAMILIAR GRIEVANCES
The free-wheeling, hour-long press conference, Trump's second since his victory, echoed similar events during his presidential campaign.
He aired a series of familiar grievances about his criminal indictments, including attacking Justice Juan Merchan, the New York judge who is scheduled to sentence Trump on Friday for falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to a porn star.
A New York appeals court denied his latest bid to halt the sentencing shortly after his press conference ended.
Separately, as Trump was speaking, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing a report on his investigations into Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The judge, Aileen Cannon, had previously dismissed the case charging Trump with illegally retaining classified materials after leaving office.
Tuesday's event took place in the ornate living room at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Palm Beach resort. Several of Trump's senior advisers watched the proceedings, while club guests could be seen outside dining on the terrace.
Trump was also asked whether it was appropriate for Elon Musk to publicly weigh in on foreign affairs. In recent weeks, the billionaire Trump ally has used his X platform to comment on European politics, including expressing support for Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany.
"I can say Elon is doing a good job, very smart guy," Trump said. "I don't know the people you're talking about."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday there “isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States” after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to compel a merger through “economic force.”
Trump, in a wide-ranging press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida less than two weeks before he takes office, said “We don’t need anything” that Canada trades with the U.S., again repeating comments about making Canada a U.S. state.
Trump threatens Canada with ‘economic force’ to become 51st state
The statement by Trudeau, who announced Monday he will resign as prime minister after a new Liberal leader is chosen, marks his strongest pushback yet against Trump, who has repeatedly called Trudeau a “governor.”
Trump’s remarks Tuesday, meanwhile, were the latest of his recent threats against longstanding U.S. allies, renewing questions and concerns about plans to use trade as a cudgel, and went beyond similar comments he has made about making Canada a part of the U.S.
Trump told reporters he wouldn’t rule out using military action to take back control of the Panama Canal and acquire Danish-controlled Greenland, which he said the U.S. needs for economic and security reasons.
Trump won’t rule out military, or economic action to acquire Greenland
Asked if he was considering the same to “annex and acquire Canada,” Trump responded, “No — economic force.”
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something,” he said. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.”
“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” Trudeau later wrote on X.
“Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner,” he added.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Trump’s comments “show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country.”
“We will never back down in the face of threats,” she wrote on social media.
Trump trolls Trudeau as ‘governor’ of ‘Great State of Canada’
Trump repeatedly stated the U.S. “subsidizes” Canada to the tune of US$200 billion in trade and spends billions more on continental defense programs like NORAD than Canada, which he said “doesn’t essentially have a military.”
“We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber,” he continued. “We don’t need anything they have. We don’t need their dairy products.
“We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada?”
Canada and the U.S. are each other’s top trading partners, with more than $3.6 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border daily. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office says the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — which is different from a subsidy — was US$53.5 billion in 2022.
What Trump is getting wrong about Canada
Trump first raised the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state when he hosted Trudeau and other Canadian officials at Mar-a-Lago in November, shortly after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico.
Although the Canadians said at the time that Trump was joking, the U.S. president-elect has repeated the comment multiple times on social media and called Trudeau a “governor.”
Trump on Tuesday said because of all the money the U.S. spends on Canada, “they should be a state.”
“We’re doing it because of habit, and we’re doing it because we like our neighbors and we’ve been good neighbors, but we can’t do it forever,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also pushed back on Trump’s comments in a statement shared with Global News on Tuesday.
“Canada will never be the 51st state. Period,” he said, using language similar to what he used in December.
“We are a great and independent country.”
Trump reiterates call for Wayne Gretzky to run for Canadian prime minister
Trump said Tuesday “I don’t care” about the earlier comments from Poilievre, whose Conservative Party is firmly in majority government territory, according to Ipsos polling done for Global News last month.
Trump suggested he plans to follow through with his threat of tariffs on Canada, despite initially tying it to demands for increased border security, which Ottawa has sought to address.
He said tariffs will “make up for” the “record numbers” of migrants and drugs flowing into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.
“We want to get along with everybody, but you know, it takes two to tango,” he said.
Trump’s comments about Canada came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden commended Trudeau for strengthening U.S.-Canada relations as prime minister.
NATO members should spend 5%, Trump says
Trump also said he wants to see NATO members spend at least five per cent of their GDP on defense. The military alliance has set a spending target of two per cent, which Canada currently does not meet.
“If you’re going to have a country and a regular military, you’re at four per cent,” Trump said. The U.S. currently spends 3.38 per cent on defense.
“They can all afford it, but they should be at five per cent, not two per cent.”
Canada on ‘clear path’ to reach NATO spending target: Trudeau
Canada, which currently spends 1.37 per cent of GDP on defense, currently projects to reach 1.76 per cent by 2030. The government says it’s on a “clear path” to hit two per cent by 2032, though the parliamentary budget officer has raised doubts about the spending plan.
NATO allies, including the U.S. under the Biden administration and during Trump’s first term, have for years criticized Canada for not meeting the two-percent target.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested the NATO spending target should be raised to three per cent given the increased threat posed by Russia and other foreign adversaries.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his oft-told story of refusing to agree to come to the aid of NATO members that don’t meet the spending target if they are attacked but said that threat was what led to more members increasing their defense spending.
“I took a lot of heat from the media (for making that threat),” Trump said. “And you know what happened? The money started pouring in. That’s why NATO has money.”
Biden has taken credit for 23 members now meeting the target, up from just six in 2021, by leading efforts to rally Western allies around support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022.
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