President Donald Trump’s flirtation with expansionist foreign policy has taken a backseat recently to his bid to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
But on Tuesday evening during a joint address to Congress, Trump said his administration was taking steps to reclaim the Panama Canal, and he resumed his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.
“We’re taking it back,” Trump said of the Panama Canal.
Of his desire to acquire Greenland, the president said, he supports the right of the Danish territory’s people to determine their own future.
But he added in an aside: “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
Trump’s frequent assertion that Canada should become America’s 51st state wasn’t mentioned, but he did tout his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
The president’s designs on Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada have been an early theme of his presidency, prompting consternation from leaders in those countries.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen said last month that Greenland is not for sale. That hasn’t stopped Trump.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said Tuesday.
Panama President José Raúl Mulino said he won’t negotiate over the canal.
“That is done. The canal belongs to Panama,”
.
Canadian leaders also have dismissed Trump’s comments about absorbing the country.
