--- title: Trump Won't Rule Out Military Action in Greenland, Panama description: Trump aired grievances against rivals, the Justice Department, and other nations in a winding and pugnacious press conference. canonical: https://time.com/7205335/donald-trump-greenland-panama-justice-press-conference/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-07T19:39:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:49:24.097Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Won't Rule Out Military Action in Greenland, Panama in Fiery Press Conference og:description: Trump aired grievances against rivals, the Justice Department, and other nations in a winding and pugnacious press conference. og:url: https://time.com/7205335/donald-trump-greenland-panama-justice-press-conference/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d4ae3d1dd8d2b24/6998b2487323af03942ba3ec/GettyImages-2192846806.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President-Elect Trump Holds Press Conference At Mar-A-Lago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Won't Rule Out Military Action in Greenland, Panama in Fiery Press Conference twitter:description: Trump aired grievances against rivals, the Justice Department, and other nations in a winding and pugnacious press conference. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d4ae3d1dd8d2b24/6998b2487323af03942ba3ec/GettyImages-2192846806.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Won't Rule Out Military Action in Greenland, Panama in Fiery Press Conference > Sponsored content. 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President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday declined to rule out using the U.S. military to acquire Greenland or the Panama Canal, ideas he has repeatedly floated since winning the election. He threatened to hit Denmark with tariffs “at a very high level” if the country refuses to give over Greenland to the U.S., and questioned whether Denmark has any legal right over the Arctic island. Trump also vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America—“a beautiful name,” he said—and promised to impose significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jan 7, 2025 7:39 PM UTC President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday declined to rule out using the U.S. military to acquire Greenland or the Panama Canal, ideas he has repeatedly floated since winning the election. He threatened to hit Denmark with tariffs “at a very high level” if the country refuses to give over Greenland to the U.S., and questioned whether Denmark has any legal right over the Arctic island. Trump also vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America—“a beautiful name,” he said—and promised to impose significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jan 7, 2025 7:39 PM UTC President-elect [Donald Trump](https://time.com/7201547/person-of-the-year-2024-donald-trump-choice/) on Tuesday declined to rule out using the U.S. military to acquire Greenland or the Panama Canal, ideas he has repeatedly floated since winning the election. “It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump said during an hourlong press conference at Mar-a-Lago when asked about whether he would vow to not use the military. “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.” He threatened to hit Denmark with tariffs “at a very high level” if the country refuses to give over Greenland to the U.S., and questioned whether Denmark has any legal right over the Arctic island. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security,” Trump said. Officials in Denmark and Greenland have said that the island is not for sale; Panama’s president has said that the Panama Canal is also not for sale. Trump has suggested that he might seek to regain control of the waterway, which was handed over to Panama in 1999 under a treaty brokered by [then-President Jimmy Carter](https://time.com/5579674/jimmy-carter-dies/), who passed away Dec. 29\. Trump has long criticized the agreement, claiming that Panama has “overcharged” the U.S. for access to the canal and that the country’s control of such a critical global chokepoint is harmful to American interests. [Trump](https://time.com/7201565/person-of-the-year-2024-donald-trump-transcript/) has offered few details on his apparent goals for territorial expansion, but his comments on Tuesday presented the clearest picture yet of how he envisions reshaping the U.S. geopolitical landscape. Trump also quipped that [Canada](https://time.com/7205012/justin-trudeau-resigns-liberal-party-leader/) should become the 51st U.S. state, but vowed not to use military force—only economic force—to put pressure on the country. “That would really be something,” Trump 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.” Trump also vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America—“a beautiful name,” he said—and promised to impose significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The press conference, which took place one day after Congress [formally certified his victory](https://time.com/7205080/trump-certified-2024-election-winner/), marked Trump’s second since he won the Nov. 5 election. He began his remarks by announcing a multibillion-dollar plan to build data centers across the U.S. bankrolled by investors from Dubai, an effort he called a “great thing” for American growth in artificial intelligence and technology. And with less than two weeks until Trump takes office for his second term, he made a final plea for Hamas to release the hostages kidnapped after the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. Trump warned that “all hell will break out” if the roughly 100 hostages are not released before his inauguration on Jan. 20\. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, said at the press conference that he believes they are “on the verge” of securing the hostages’ release. But the mood shifted as Trump pivoted to familiar territory: complaining about his political rivals, particularly President Joe Biden, and attacking the legal challenges he faces from various investigations. His remarks showcased a President-elect determined to erase what he sees as obstacles to his agenda before he steps into the Oval Office. “We are inheriting a difficult situation from the outgoing administration, and they're trying everything they can to make it more difficult,” Trump said. He criticized Biden’s final weeks in office, particularly an executive action to halt oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters. “I'm going to put it back on day one,” Trump pledged. Trump’s remarks came as he’s due to be sentenced in the New York hush-money trial on Friday after he was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May, and as he’s fighting to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on findings into separate [criminal cases](https://time.com/7173454/donald-trump-win-legal-cases-2024/). During the press conference, Aileen Cannon, the federal judge who handled Trump’s classified documents case, temporarily barred Smith from releasing his final report on the investigation to the public. Trump attacked Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the New York case, calling him “crooked.” (Merchan has signaled that Trump will not receive jail time at the sentencing on Friday.) And Trump railed against Smith, calling him a “deranged individual.” Smith dismissed his two federal cases against Trump after he won the election. Trump also confirmed that he is considering pardons for many of the people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, including some individuals charged with violent offenses. “People that were doing some bad things weren’t prosecuted, and people that didn’t even walk into the building are in jail right now. So, we’ll be looking at the whole thing. But I’ll be making major pardons, yes,” Trump said. His promise to pardon riot defendants has sparked controversy, with critics arguing that it would embolden extremist elements and undermine the legal process. ## Transcript Go ahead, please. Thank you. Wanted to touch on the world on fire. Your references to Greenland and the Panama Canal. So 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. And can you tell us a little bit about what your plan is? What is the strategy in that? I can 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 now. It might be that you'll have to do something. 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. Giving the Panama Canal is why Jimmy Carter lost the election, in my opinion, more so maybe than the hostages. The hostages were a big deal. But if you remember, nobody wants to talk about the Panama Canal now because, you know, it's inappropriate, I guess, because it's a bad part of the Carter legacy. But he was a good man. Look, he was a good man. I knew him a little bit, and he was a very fine person, but that was a big mistake. So real fast, you said you were considering military force to acquire Panama in Greenland. Are you also considering military force? Do annex and acquire? No, economic force. Because Canada and the United States, that would really be something. 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. Don't forget, we basically protect Canada. But here's the problem with Canada. So many friends up there. I love the Canadian people. They're great. But we're spending hundreds of billions a year to protect it. We're spending hundreds of billions a year to take care of Canada. We lose in trade deficits, we're losing mass. We don't need their cars. You know, they make 20% of our cars. We don't need that. I'd rather make them in Detroit. We don't need the cars. We don't need their lumber. We have massive fields of lumber. We don't need their lumber. We have to unrestrict them because stupid people put, you know, restrictions on, but I can do that with an executive order. We don't need anything they have. We don't need their dairy products. We have more than they have. We don't need anything. So why are we losing $200,000,000,000 a year and more to protect Canada. Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes. I've been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time. You have approximately 45,000 people there. People really don't even know if Denmark has any legal right to it. But if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. That's for the free world. I'm talking about protecting the free world. You look at you don't even need binoculars. You look outside. You have China ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We're not letting that happen. We're not letting it happen. And if Denmark wants to get to a conclusion, but nobody knows if they even have any right title or interest, the people are gonna probably vote for independence or to come into the United States. But if they did if they did do that, then I would tariff Denmark at a very high level. Have you asked your staff to draw plans for acquisition? I mean, are you? No, we're not at that stage, but I haven't even entered office yet. Yeah, we have a massive deficit with Mexico, and we help Mexico a lot. They're essentially run by the cartels. And I can't let that happen. Mexico is really in trouble. A lot of trouble. Very dangerous place. And we're going to be announcing at a future date. Pretty soon we're going to change because we do most of the work there, and it's ours. We're going to be changing sort of the opposite of Biden, where he's closing everything up, essentially getting rid of 50 to $60,000,000,000,000 worth of assets. We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate. 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