President Trump repeated vows to secure U.S. control of Greenland and the Panama Canal in his speech to a joint a session of Congress on March 4.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,” the president said during his address. “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
Greenland’s prime minister responded: “We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken.”
A few weeks later, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance paid a visit to Greenland along with national security adviser Mike Waltz. Donald Trump Jr. visited in January before the president took office.
On the Panama Canal, Mr. Trump said in his March 4 address, “To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” referring to a deal to give an American company control of key ports.
Panama’s president denounced Mr. Trump’s remarks and said “The Canal is Panamanian” in a social media post.
Below is a look at where the two places are and what Mr. Trump has said about wanting the U.S. to control them.
Where is Greenland and why does President Trump want it?
Greenland is located to the northeast of Canada. The largest island in the world, it is about 836,000 square miles, around the size of Sweden. It is largely covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet and is home to only around 60,000 people. It is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark…
