Original | Odaily Planet Daily

Author | jk

On January 7, Tuesday, local time in the United States, Trump held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. This press conference was initially promoted as an announcement for economic development, revealing the plan of Dubai developer Damac Properties to invest $20 billion in building data centers in the U.S. However, Trump subsequently discussed several new topics related to U.S. geopolitics. In what can be described as a "groundbreaking" press conference, Trump proposed four new directions: increasing NATO member countries' military spending ratio, making Canada the 51st state of the U.S., not relinquishing military control over the Panama Canal and Greenland, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf."

Trump has often made many political promises in a brash manner, but now that he has truly become the "Supreme Leader" capable of controlling both the House and Senate, the Supreme Court, and the White House, who knows if he will have the determination to implement these proposals and disrupt North America's geopolitics?

Using economic means to "merge Canada"

Source: Truth Social

On the day of the press conference, Trump posted a tweet on Truth Social, believing that many Canadians would be willing to become a new state of the U.S., which could reduce fiscal deficits and tariffs, and lessen threats from Russia and China. When asked about the seriousness of this topic, Trump made it clear that he "was not joking," suggesting that if Canada remained a sovereign nation, the financial costs of its trade relationship with the U.S. could be devastating.

When asked if he would attempt to annex Canada, Trump vowed to use "economic means," stating that the shared border between the two countries is a "man-made line." However, in reality, this border is the longest international border in the world, established by treaties dating back to the late 18th century when the U.S. was founded.

Trump stated that the U.S. spends billions of dollars each year protecting Canada and criticized the import of Canadian cars, timber, and dairy products, saying, "They should become a state," he told reporters.

According to the BBC, the soon-to-be former Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau stated that there is "not a shred of possibility" for the two countries to merge.

Previously, Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, stating that he did not have enough support within the Liberal Party to lead it into this year's election. Potential competitors for Trudeau's successor, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, posted on social media that Canada "will not back down in the face of threats." Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, the opposition leader to Trudeau's government, has stated that Canada "will never" become a state of the U.S.

No guarantee of not using force to control the Panama Canal and Greenland

During the press conference, Trump repeatedly mentioned the costs incurred by the U.S. in constructing the canal and accused China of currently operating the canal, after which several news outlets fact-checked and clarified that the operation of the canal has nothing to do with China. When asked if he might order the military to force Panama to relinquish the canal or take similar measures against Greenland, he stated, "No, I cannot guarantee you those two points."

If force were truly used, it would violate treaties and other agreements reached during the Carter administration, which he has often criticized.

According to the New York Times, Trump's exact words were: "We need them to ensure economic security—the Panama Canal was built for our military purposes," he said. When asked again if he would rule out the use of military force, he replied, "I won't commit to that. We may need to do something."

The President of Panama refuted Trump's claims afterward, stating that "the canal absolutely has no Chinese interference."

Regarding Greenland, Trump believes that there are several Russian and Chinese vessels operating around Greenland, thus making Greenland closely related to U.S. national security and safe navigation. He stated at the press conference that if Denmark does not hand over Greenland to the U.S., he will "impose very high tariffs on Denmark," questioning Denmark's legitimate sovereignty over Greenland.

At this time, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., is visiting Greenland. Before arriving in the capital Nuuk, Trump Jr. stated that he would be taking a "personal day trip" to talk with locals and had no plans to meet with government officials.

The Danish Prime Minister immediately stated after the press conference that "Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland."

Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group noted that Trump's rationale bears similarities to the justifications Putin made for invading Ukraine. He publicly stated, "American imperialism is back." It is hard to imagine this phrase coming from a European.

Trump told reporters, "I am talking about protecting the free world."

Increasing NATO member countries' military spending ratio for U.S. troops

According to the New York Times, Trump claimed that NATO member countries have been slow to fulfill their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense funding and should now be prepared to spend 5%.

"They can all afford it, but they should spend 5%, not 2%," Trump said, threatening that if any NATO ally does not pay enough in his view, he would not protect them.

Trump's criticism of NATO continues a bipartisan narrative: George W. Bush, Obama, and Biden have all raised this issue, and during Biden's term, the progress toward the 2% goal has been the greatest, with even some European leaders privately agreeing that if Europe wants to build sufficient military power to deter Russia in the coming decades, the target should be raised to 3%. They often add that there is no political basis for reaching this level.

According to NATO's latest assessment, 23 of the 32 allies are expected to reach the 2% (defense spending as a percentage of GDP) target by 2024, while only 3 did so in 2014. But now, Trump has made it clear that this level should be raised to 5%, or he will threaten to withdraw troops.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf"

Trump stated that the U.S. will rename the Gulf of Mexico to "American Gulf," linking this potential renaming to his long-standing dissatisfaction with Mexico's handling of immigration, drug trafficking, and trade, and made related comments.

"We will rename the Gulf of Mexico to American Gulf (also known as Gulf of America)," Trump said at the press conference. "…What a beautiful name, and it is very appropriate."

The Gulf of Mexico, adjacent to Florida, source: Google

This body of water has had many names, but European explorers and cartographers have used the name "Gulf of Mexico" for at least 400 years.

While the U.S. federal government has existing mechanisms to rename recognized geographical names, even if the federal name is officially changed, it does not mean that other countries will recognize this change.

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene immediately stated that she plans to introduce legislation in Congress to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

"I have instructed my staff to immediately begin drafting legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico to American Gulf," Greene wrote on social media. "This is very important to start funding the change of maps for all federal agencies (such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the military)."

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