# 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:** 51
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1001 "2026-07-05T18:04:40Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m pretty sure @Spoons realizes starting out with an apology is just the first on a long list of things the United States will need to do over the course of many years to regain the trust of our allies. Assuming the United States are even willing to go down that route, it’s going to take a long, long time to repair the damage done. I certainly believe it _can_ be repaired, but it really depends on whether Americans as a whole are interested in repairing anything. The problem is that this goes well beyond Trump. The Trump-appointed envoy to Greenland and current governor of Louisiana, Jeff “Dirty” Landry, appears to be sincere in (unintentionally but unmistakably) characterizing the US as a tribe of plundering warriors much like Attila and his Huns. He’s not doing it just as an appeasement to Trump – he represents a fairly big segment of Americans with similar hegenomistic aspirations to dominate and plunder the world and fatten their wallets. The moral justification is, as always, “because we can”. It’s the moral equivalent of beating up a blind beggar in an alley and stealing whatever cash he’s managed to collect. . ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1002 "2026-07-05T18:18:39Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The problem is that this goes well beyond Trump. The Trump-appointed envoy to Greenland and current governor of Louisiana, Jeff “Dirty” Landry, appears to be sincere in (unintentionally but unmistakably) characterizing the US as a tribe of plundering warriors much like Attila and his Huns. I think most of us understand this goes far deeper than Trump. Trump is not the cause of our problems, as a healthy polity would never elect someone like Trump in the first place, let alone twice, and he is merely a symptom of much deeper problems. I don’t think anyone here needs to be told the problems run deep and it’s going to take a while to fix (assuming America wants to fix it in the first place). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1003 "2026-07-05T19:06:58Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Unfortunately that just elevates the Grand Inquisitor to the supreme level of power rather than the nominal head of the executive branch. I’m not sure how you see this. The judges would not be part of the DoJ, just the prosecutors and investigators, as they are now. I just think the AG should not be potentially a lackey of the President, as we have in the current admin. So keep the DoJ basically the same as in previous admins, just have a different way of selecting who’s in charge of it. One thing I didn’t mention about my proposal is that the AG would have fixed terms, probably with term limits. That should negate at least some of the dangers of potential Star Chamberism. The terms need not be the same as those of the President. Perhaps we could make them 3 year terms with a limit of two. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1004 "2026-07-05T19:17:59Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Surely they could do something to make Greenland costly to hold, besides supporting the insurgency with arms, intelligence, and special forces, etc. (all of which goes without saying.) Economic and trade sanctions have dealt a meaningful blow to countries like Russia. Greenland is not a country the same way places like Afghanistan or Vietnam are countries. The entire landmass has about as many people in it as Yankee Stadium could hold, and almost all of them are in a handful of coastal towns. The country lacks for basic suppliers and resources that must be brought in by ship or plane, things the USA could cut off to a large extent. No insurgency is going to be especially effective in such a place. You could support an insurgency in CANADA, a huge country with millions and millions of people in it whose insurgents would almost immediately be crossing the border and would already have enough resources to sustain an insurgency for a few generations. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1005 "2026-07-05T19:27:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > He’s not doing it just as an appeasement to Trump – he represents a fairly big segment of Americans with similar hegenomistic aspirations to dominate and plunder the world and fatten their wallets. Something that was sadly apparent yesterday is that much of American culture is now about just being an asshole. There’s always been assholes and always will be, and patriotism in any country is often associated with being a dick, of course. But in the United States today it’s amazing how openly and deliberately being an asshole is considered a weird virtue. I mean, you could be about as opposed to the policies of Reagan or Bush as you could, but neither of those men ever tried to be an outright asshole in public, and being an outright asshole simply was not a thing that was accepted in the public space back in the day. Some public figures were total assholes, and that could cross party lines; both LBJ and Nixon were total assholes. But in public they weren’t, and,really, NO mainstream politician openly tried to be an asshole, save a few fringe examples like George Wallace, and even then such people tended to have short careers. Media pundits were held to a standard of civilized behaviour too. Where people were assholes it’s usually because they were stupid and unable to do better. Now, though, it’s becoming common in US culture to simply be an asshole, on purpose, and it’s seen as being a good thing. Cruelty, vulgarity, and bigotry are really in fashion in the USA. It’s mostly a conservative thing but it’s leaking into the left a bit as well. This started before Trump but he’s made it much worse. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1006 "2026-07-05T20:04:55Z")
**Moderating:** Mod-nudge for the moment, but I’m reminding the thread that we have several discussions of how to reform the American electoral system and government to be less corruptible - this thread is specific to potential actions taken against Panama and Greenland. No warnings, and no names (heck, credit to those who tried to get it back on track even!), but the damage done to America’s reputation and remedies are another thread. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1007 "2026-07-05T21:14:15Z")
Europe’s ability to defend Greenland is less military and more economic. The US would not be able to handle the system shock of the EU cutting all trade with the US, halting commercial travel and tourism, seizing American corporate assets, etc. We’re not set up to be a pariah state. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1008 "2026-07-05T22:08:09Z")
Not to mention losing access to what’s left of the US military bases in EU countries. Which would make that war in Iran even harder to wage. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1009 "2026-07-06T19:54:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The US would not be able to handle the system shock of the EU cutting all trade with the US, halting commercial travel and tourism, seizing American corporate assets, etc. Presumably you think that the EU _would_ be able to survive this. What makes it any more resilient to abruptly severing ties like this? (And since you brought up the prospect of the EU seizing American assets, consider that the US would almost certainly reciprocate.) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1010 "2026-07-06T20:20:00Z")
Economically, the US would suffer less in a trade war. But politically, it would fare worse. There is one area where economically it would hurt the US much more - pharmaceuticals. if you think drug prices in the US are high now… ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1011 "2026-07-08T00:53:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It also would have disqualified Biden, Bill Clinton, Carter, Eisenhower, and both Roosevelts. Teddy Roosevelt was 42 when he became President and 50 when he left office. That’s the youngest President ever just beating out JFK. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1012 "2026-07-08T03:32:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We’re not set up to be a pariah state. Trump doesn’t care, though. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1013 "2026-07-08T11:39:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Trump doesn’t care, though. He’s trying to remake the USA in his image. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1014 "2026-07-08T12:29:13Z")
NM. Potentially OT. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1015 "2026-07-08T12:58:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > We’re not set up to be a pariah state. > > Trump doesn’t care, though I don’t think Trump thinks we’d be a pariah. I think he thinks — no, that he expects without thinking — that everyone else on the planet would bow down to our strength and do what he wants. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1016 "2026-07-08T13:32:15Z")
Trump, last week, [per Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/china-trying-to-take-over-trump-calls-giving-away-panama-canal-stupid-mistake/articleshow/132126951.cms): > [@](#): > > "And now China’s trying to take over the Panama Canal, and we’re not going to let that happen, okay? And that was not part of the script because I do not really have a script . . . " My interpretation: He’s not actually planning to conquer Panama. Yesterday, Guardian: [Trump renews call for US to take over Greenland](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/trump-renews-call-us-take-over-greenland-nato) Predicting war is hard, but the risk of a U.S. invasion of Greenland sometime during Trump 47 is high. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1017 "2026-07-08T13:43:57Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Predicting war is hard, but the risk of a U.S. invasion of Greenland sometime during Trump 47 is high. It’s a sad, sad state of affairs when a stupid, mostly pointless war in one corner of the world might actually be delaying/preventing a far stupider, even more pointless war in another 😑. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1018 "2026-07-08T14:07:35Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I could go on. It will take some time, measured in years, but I think that the US can rebuild its reputation. But as I said, it will take many years to rebuild what one man has taken down in just shy of two years. It will take _decades_. We had fours years of respite under Biden, but then the US voters tossed us right back into the shit. So even if you fix it in 2028, we have no reason to think that will stick for more than four years. It will take multiple US Presidential election cycles to make us even consider thinking you’ve finally learned your lesson. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1019 "2026-07-08T16:12:19Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Predicting war is hard, but the risk of a U.S. invasion of Greenland sometime during Trump 47 is high. Trump is tweaking noses. He LOVES IT when a foreign representative has to respond publicly to some crap he’s said. For him, that’s groveling to him personally … and that’s “power!”. Denmark’s leadership should bait him: “_Please, land your troops. Show us how impressive American military might is. Please come and try it now – don’t wait. I mean, it’s easy and you’re not scared. Why not come and invade now?_” Trump would absolutely not take the bait, and would be forced to look like a loser temporarily until he says something at his next rally to the tune of “_… it’s not worth it. We could, but we don’t need to … we have bases\*\* there already_”. He’s tuck tail in the face of direct aggressive language, no doubt about it. \*\* _actually just one, but his marks don’t know better_ ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/1020 "2026-07-08T16:31:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I think he thinks — no, that he expects without thinking — that everyone else on the planet would bow down to our strength and do what he wants. Exactly this. Because it’s working so well with Iran, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=52)