Why does Trump want Greenland and the Panama Canal? What is behind the US interest?

President-elect Donald Trump expressed his interest in ensuring the security of the United States during a long press conference on Tuesday. Control of Greenland and the Panama Canaland said that he would not rule out the use of military force.

Here’s a look at where the two locations are and why Trump wants the US to control them.

Where is Greenland and why does Trump want to control it?

Greenland is located northeast of Canada and is mostly covered by the Greenland ice sheet. The largest island in the world, but home to only 60,000 people, it is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark with its own elected government.

Its location between the US, Russia and Europe makes it extremely strategic for both economic and defense purposes – especially the melting of sea ice It opened up new transport routes through the Arctic.

It is also home to the northernmost US military base.

“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” Trump said Tuesday. “I’m talking about protecting the free world. You look — you don’t even need binoculars — you look outside. There’s Chinese ships everywhere. There’s Russian ships everywhere. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Greenland has oil, natural gas and rare mineral resources, some of which are currently used in products including military technology and electric vehicles, which come mostly from Russia and China.

What is the Panama Canal and why does Trump want it?

According to trade publication CargoNOW, about 40% of US container shipping now goes through the Panama Canal. The channel serves as a shortcut between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

Trump said the US needed the Panama Canal for “economic security” and falsely claimed it was “controlled by China”.

“The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s run by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China and they abused it. They abused that gift. It should never have been done.” “, Trump said.

The President of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, disputed this.

“China has no interference or involvement in the Panama Canal,” he said in late December.

Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said Tuesday that his government had not recently spoken formally with Trump or his team about the canal, but he repeated the president’s earlier comments that the canal would remain under Panamanian control.

“The sovereignty of our channel is non-negotiable and the struggle is part of our history and our irreversible conquest,” Martinez-Acha said.

History of Greenland

The Kingdom of Denmark began colonizing Greenland in the early 18th century, hundreds of years after Vikings from the same distant land first came to settle. It was only after World War II, when the then Danish ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, refused to submit to the rule of Denmark’s Nazi occupiers that the United States established a presence on the island.

Denmark was liberated from Nazi occupation in 1945, but the United States has not abandoned Pituffik Space Base, the American military’s northernmost military base to this day.

History of the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal It was built by the United States between 1904 and 1914. It serves as a shortcut between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, dramatically shortening shipping routes from Asia to ports in the eastern United States.

It was administered by the US government for the first time in decades, causing tensions with Panama.

In the 1970s, the United States and Panama signed a treaty agreeing to the permanent neutrality of the canal. The US committed to giving up control of the canal and did so completely in 1999. The canal is now managed by the Panama Canal Authority.