# Trump now wants to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 7, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691 "2025-01-07T20:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1 "2025-01-07T20:27:19Z")
I’ve heard in the news that Trump wants to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland. Isn’t that blatant U.S. imperialism? That would be armed aggression against two friendly countries. He wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. That wouldn’t be recognized under international law, would it? What other kinds of criminal misadventures has this fascist megalomaniac got planned? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/2 "2025-01-07T20:29:04Z")
What news specifically, and was it actually news, or commentary? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/3 "2025-01-07T20:29:17Z")
Moderating: This thread belongs in P&E. I’m moving it. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/4 "2025-01-07T20:33:56Z")
Who the fuck does he think he is, Benito Mussolini? He does the pose and facial expressions already. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/5 "2025-01-07T20:36:58Z")
I’m going to be a broken record: > [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > I’ve heard in the news that Trump wants to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland. Cite? “I’ve heard in the news,” with no links to such news, is an awful way to create a thread. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > He’s floating the idea of returning the Statue of Liberty because it sends the wrong message. Same here. Cite? Or, if you’re just making stuff up to be funny, put a /s after it, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/6 "2025-01-07T20:37:15Z")
> **[Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland...](https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-offshore-drilling-gulf-of-america-fa66f8d072eb39c00a8128a8941ede75)** > > President-elect Donald Trump says he won't rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security. There are other sources as well. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/7 "2025-01-07T20:38:37Z")
I edited it away. And it was j/k. Would make a nice, believable rumor to start though. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/8 "2025-01-07T20:41:42Z")
For what it’s worth, what he _actually_ said, as per the article, is: > [@](#): > > “I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military. “It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country.” He added, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.” This is classic Trump, refusing to be pinned down on a course of action. He feels that, if he formally commits on a course of action, he can’t change his mind, so he _always_ leaves his options open, by saying things like “I’m not going to commit,” or “we might have to do something,” as he has here. This is _very_ different from “I want to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland.” He’s not going to do a thing, other than rattle the saber, try to extract some sort of better “deal” from the other party, and then present himself as an amazing negotiator. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/9 "2025-01-07T20:43:11Z")
He talked about it during his rambling, incoherent speech today that was supposed to be about economic policy or something. I can’t believe I have to pay attention to this for the next four years. 😫 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/10 "2025-01-07T20:43:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This is classic Trump, refusing to be pinned down on a course of action. He feels that, if he formally commits on a course of action, he can’t change his mind, so he _always_ leaves his options open, by saying things like “I’m not going to commit,” or “we might have to do something,” as he has here. This is _very_ different from “I want to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland.” He’ll be making an announcement in two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/11 "2025-01-07T20:47:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He’s not going to do a thing, other than rattle the saber, try to extract some sort of better “deal” from the other party, and then present himself as an amazing negotiator. Of course he won’t do anything – I was trying to provide the cite, even if it turns out I jumped the gun. What he says though wouldn’t work to begin with. Even if it could work, it’d take years of international negotiations. It’d be intensely complicated, and the orange idiot wouldn’t live to see it. But just saying it is utterly insane and not worth the time of a rational president or president-elect. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/12 "2025-01-07T20:51:01Z")
Like I famously said before, afa Panama goes, he would just blockade the canal until Panama comes to its senses. I wonder if Greenlandians are downloading how-to books on guerrilla warfare. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/13 "2025-01-07T20:52:07Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I can’t believe I have to pay attention to this for the next four I won’t be paying attention. Especially, I won’t be listening to speeches or interviews or TV call-ins that have that person at the other end. Which of us will be the worse for our choices? I will be following the news, and I will inevitably hear about such stuff there (news) and here (SD). That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/14 "2025-01-07T20:52:44Z")
And for the hundredth time, he’s trolling because he gets off on the reaction. If we stopped getting in a tizzy over these things he’d stop saying them. Over at Breitbart they’re over the moon at how Trump “Owned the Libs.” Even they know it won’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/15 "2025-01-07T20:53:09Z")
Oh, same here, but it ends up on the front page of the Times every time he says some batshit crazy thing and it’s just hard to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/16 "2025-01-07T21:05:09Z")
Well, that would be declaring war on Denmark, and thus on NATO. I’m pretty sure there would be some serious blowback on that notion. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/17 "2025-01-07T21:09:27Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > And for the hundredth time, he’s trolling because he gets off on the reaction. If we stopped getting in a tizzy over these things he’d stop saying them. It seems he’s getting crazier, and crazier. Perhaps for the attention while his left hand raids the US Treasury. Pretty classic con-man strategy. “Look over here!” ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/18 "2025-01-07T21:13:58Z")
That’s good to take notice of that! Would Trump have us occupy Denmark as well? Is there any limit to Trump’s outrageous imperialist fantasies? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/19 "2025-01-07T21:14:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, that would be declaring war on Denmark, and thus on NATO. I’m pretty sure there would be some serious blowback on that notion. Not only do I think that we might leave NATO, I think we might form a Russian-American axis. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/20 "2025-01-07T21:37:59Z")
Remember back when Reagan got lambasted for obviously joking on an open mike that he outlawed Russia and the bombing will start in 5 minutes. Now the president can propose invading an ally without any indication of levity and its just shrugged off. I miss the days when we actually had standards. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=2)