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Senate Republican allies of President-elect Donald Trump defended his strategic desire for control of the Panama Canal, Greenland and even Canada, while acknowledging they don’t know how serious he is about pursuing them.

“I don’t think he’s kidding,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican of North Dakota. “I do think he’s serious about the Panama Canal and what that’s cost us in ceding it. But I don’t know how realistic it is to get control back or what it would take.”

He added: “I don’t really want to invade Denmark, but I think it’s hard to deny that Greenland would be a really nice strategic piece of property if we could get it,” he said while adding he didn’t think American troops should be used for these purposes.

“I certainly see Greenland as an opportunity, a great national security addition,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican of Kansas. “The Panama Canal, I certainly understand President Trump’s concerns that China has a huge presence there now. And that’s being abused. That’s a national security issue. We’ll see what happens.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican of Alabama, said China has been “all over the Panama Canal” and “we’ve been sitting back and just kind of playing nice. It’s time to expand. You know, it’s good to talk about, whether it’s going to happen or not, who knows.”

“The minerals in Greenland, I mean that would set us apart,” Tuberville added. “And they’re close, they are right off Maine. It’s not like we have to go to Russia to get our minerals.”

“I understand the strategic importance of being in the Panama Canal,” said Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, “It was unbelievably stupid to give away the Panama Canal.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming was asked why Trump is talking about these issues after running on the economy and border security.

“These are transformative times, and transformative discussions should not be dismissed as frivolous. However, I’m focused on the border, overspending, inflation, the things that the voters thought were important during the election,” she said.