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President-elect Donald Trump has once again repeated his desires for U.S. territorial expansion. In a message delivered on Christmas Day, Trump took aim at the Panama Canal and Greenland, while also addressing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly.
“Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal,” the president-elect began in a Truth Social post, before claiming “38,000 people” died during the waterway’s construction. (BBC previously fact checked that the number was closer to 300.) He continued, writing: “United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.’”
Trump then mocked Trudeau, referring to him as the “Governor” of Canada, and once again floated the idea of the country becoming the “51st State,” while promising its “Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World.”
The president-elect also reiterated his previous intention to bring Greenland under American control, writing that the territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, “is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!”
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede made clear on Monday that the territory was not for sale. “Greenland is ours,” the prime minister said in a statement. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our years-long struggle for freedom.”
However, the Danish prime minister’s office issued a separate statement saying that the government is “looking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.”
On Monday, the Danish government later announced a huge boost in defense spending for Greenland, per the BBC.
Trump also took the opportunity to deliver another holiday message on Wednesday, urging Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky — who joined Trump in Mar-a-Lago after his election win in November — to run for prime minister of Canada. “I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada – You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’”
