# 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:** 43
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/841 "2026-01-19T20:24:59Z")
I suspect, given his age, that Trump cares not a whit for soccer/football and while _anything_ can prick his ego, it would be more of a shrug and “It’s not a real sport moment”. Look instead at the way he’s mentioning using a presidential edict to prevent competition with the Army/Navy (American) Football game, which is what he probably considers appropriately “manly”! > **[Trump vows executive order to protect Army-Navy game from competing football...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/18/politics/army-navy-football-trump-broadcast)** > > The announcement Saturday night signaled an unusually direct effort by the White House to influence college football scheduling and television programming. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/842 "2026-01-19T20:29:04Z")
Maybe he does not care about football/soccer, but he cares about ass kissing by Mafiantino, the FIFA president, peace prizes and shiny things. Other members of FIFA who are only normally corrupt (Mafiantino is really on another level) find this embarrassing: > **[Growing sense of embarrassment at Fifa over Donald Trump peace prize](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/18/embarrassment-fifa-donald-trump-peace-prize)** > > There is a growing sense of embarrassment among mid-level and senior officials within Fifa over the awarding of the peace prize to Donald Trump ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/843 "2026-01-19T20:33:35Z")
They’re a week late. Randy Fine (R- Florida) already introduced his bill on January 12th. > **[Congressman Fine Introduces Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act to...](https://fine.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=118)** > > Today, Congressman Fine (FL-06) introduced the Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act, landmark legislation focused on securing America’s strategic national security interests in the Arctic and countering the growing threats posed by China and... Full name of this abomination: Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act to Strengthen U.S. National Security and Put Our Adversaries on Notice ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/844 "2026-01-19T20:39:14Z")
Is it possible that the simplest and cleanest way to defuse this crisis is for the Nobel Committee to declare a do-over and give him the prize? It’s stupid and ridiculous but so is everything these days. ---
**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 19, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/845 "2026-01-19T20:41:26Z")
I don’t think that appeasing a madman threatening world peace works. I think America needs to be stopped now, rather than later. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/846 "2026-01-19T20:51:07Z")
He was making noises about Greenland before 2025. The prize is just the latest in a long list of supposed grievances. If it wasn’t that, it would be some other excuse. Worse, it’s being exacerbated by Stephen Miller and others in his inner circle. Even total capitulation wouldn’t really satisfy him. Give him a mile, and he’ll simply demand 10 more. Also, part of this is to distract from Epstein, so there always has to be something else to keep people occupied. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/847 "2026-01-19T21:20:49Z")
You’re not wrong, I’m suggesting that he’ll quickly find someone else to suck up to him and brush off the snub in a dismissive way (though he’ll still suck/stew about it and expect funding cuts for soccer /football programs in the US, or abusive actions to be taken against non-US nationals performing in the states). It’s a significant snub from the European standpoint, and has little direct cost to the EU, I fully grant. And all power too them, but it will _probably_ only glance off of Trump’s endless arrogance rather than strike deeply. Personally, I’d just start declaring him as an enemy of the nation(s) based on his own damn admissions and confiscate all his European properties/businesses whether directly owned or not. He’s using a nation to commit an act of grand larceny. Let him enjoy some lawfare actually directed at him, since he already refuses to distinguish between being held accountable for criminal actions and being personally attacked. Do it for anyone in his circle as well - similar to actions taken against Putin and his associates by the EU and USA. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/848 "2026-01-19T21:33:57Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Is it possible that the simplest and cleanest way to defuse this crisis is for the Nobel Committee to declare a do-over and give him the prize? In this letter he admits he never really gave a shit about peace (“You didn’t give me the prize so I’m no longer obligated”). Now that he has his hand-me-down prize, he’s done pretending that he ever cared about it. He is going to stop begging but, of course, continue to bitch about it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/849 "2026-01-19T21:34:01Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Even total capitulation wouldn’t really satisfy him. Give him a mile, and he’ll simply demand 10 more. Yeah, that point is brought home in every cop show involving a hostage situation. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/850 "2026-01-20T06:25:01Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > confiscate all his European properties/businesses whether directly owned or not. Yep, seize that golf course he owns in Scotland. **That** is something he would care about. I doubt he gives a \*\*\*\* about the World Cup (“ ‘Soccer’? Never heard of it”) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/851 "2026-01-20T06:33:12Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Yep, seize that golf course he owns in Scotland. **That** is something he would care about. I doubt he gives a \*\*\*\* about the World Cup (“ ‘Soccer’? Never heard of it”) Give it to the RAF to use as a targeting range. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/852 "2026-01-20T06:35:09Z")
Give it to the RAF to use as a latrine. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/853 "2026-01-20T08:51:08Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Yep, seize that golf course he owns in Scotland. OK so I don’t normally do anything so ridiculous as attempt to speak for my nation but: Seize his golf courses and turn them into windfarms? Not a problem, happy to do it. Boycott the first (men’s) World Cup we’ve qualified for in 28 years? Not saying no, but there’s some stages of grief we’ll have to work through first. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/854 "2026-01-20T09:12:44Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Give it to the RAF to use as a targeting range. Interesting idea. “Sir, the British have added a few more … umm, _hazards_ to your golf course in Scotland.” “What, like sand traps and ponds and stuff?” “Not exactly, sir. Let’s just say that if you hear, ‘Incoming!’. you take cover immediately.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/855 "2026-01-20T10:53:57Z")
Nothing so aggressive would be needed. Just some “urgent works” on services that would necessitate digging up quite a large chunk of the access roads and, oops oh dear, cutting off electricity and water supply. While we “wait for spare parts” to arrive… that don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/856 "2026-01-20T11:17:41Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The problem with the Madman Strategy, as any philosopher of ethics would tell us, is that constantly “acting” out a way of being leads to that _becoming_ your regular way of being. Also, I’ve read in the past that studies indicate that pretending to be insane increases the chance of developing actual mental illness. > [@Smapti](#): > > Yeesh. Even by his standards this is unhinged. You’d think someone in the diplomatic corps would at least TRY to polish this and make it look more like something a sane person would write, but I guess His Eminence insists that His words be transmitted unedited. Also, doing anything but passing the message along unedited both means taking some responsibility for its content, _and_ risks bringing you to Trump’s notice as a prospective fall guy when it’s received badly. This is a situation when being just one unnoticed cog in the machine is the best choice for them. > [@madmonk28](#): > > I don’t think that appeasing a madman threatening world peace works. I think America needs to be stopped now, rather than later. Yeah, there’s literally centuries of evidence that trying to appease aggressors doesn’t work. It just encourages them. “Once you pay the Danegeld, you’re never rid of the Dane”. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/857 "2026-01-20T13:02:25Z")
Krugman calls it this morning. > **[It’s Sundowning in America](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/its-sundowning-in-america)** > > A presidential mind is a dangerous thing to lose > … > This might not exactly be sundowning, since it’s not clear that Trump is lucid and rational at any time of the day. What is incontrovertible is that he’s deeply unwell and rapidly getting sicker. > > In fact, Trump is so deeply unwell that it’s time to stop blaming him for all the terrible things he’s doing. He is what he is. **Responsibility for the catastrophe overtaking America now rests with his enablers — people who have to know that he’s a sick man but continue to support his depredations.** > > … > > How did a great, sophisticated nation, one of the world’s longest-standing republics, end up so fragile that it can be undone by one man’s dementia? That’s an important question, the answer to which I believe lies in the straight line from Bush vs Gore and the Roberts Supreme Court, to January 6th, to the execution of Renee Good. However, what’s more important is that we realize where we are right now, that we don’t try to sugarcoat and sanewash what’s happening: A petulant, violent and deranged individual is running America. My bold. He tells it like it is. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/858 "2026-01-20T13:33:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Krugman calls it this morning. Thanks for sharing that. That article is a perfect, succinct distillation of everything that’s currently wrong with not only trump, but our enabling government as a whole. I’ve bookmarked it to share in case I ever get in a discussion with anybody who still supports trump and his administration. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/859 "2026-01-20T14:40:54Z")
I’m very glad to see that. I hope more people become willing to say that out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/860 "2026-01-20T16:26:24Z")
also note worthy reading if you are at Substack is Robert Reich’s daily take on this administration. (and many other thinkers as well) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=44)