France warned Donald Trump against trying to seize control of Greenland by military force or economic coercion.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the European Union would not “let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are”.
He spoke out after an extraordinary interview by the US president-elect during which he did not rule out using military or economic action to pursue acquisition of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
The vast Arctic island of Greeland has been part of Denmark, an EU nation, for over 600 years.
“There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are...We are a strong continent,” Mr Barrot stressed.
Trump, who returns to the White House for a second term as president on January 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a US state, said he would demand far higher defence 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, expansionist foreign policy with little regard to diplomatic considerations or the concerns of US allies, including threatening a wave of economic tariffs.
Asked at a free-wheeling, hour-long press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida 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 US 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 resists his offer to purchase Greenland, which he said is vital to US 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’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 Trump’s threat to retake the key global waterway, which the US 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,” said Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha.
Ambassador Daniel Fried, a retired US 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.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is expected to play a key role in looming US-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.
Trump, who claims he can end the Ukraine war in a day, said NATO members should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defence, 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%.”
Poland is the highest spender on defence in GDP terms among NATO members at 4.12%, followed by Estonia at 3.43% and the United States at 3.38%, with the UK on 2.3%.
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 October. 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.
