Donald Trump warned by France against sending US military to seize Greenland
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France warned Donald Trump against trying to seize control of Greenland by military force or economic coercion. French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the European Union would not “let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are”.
He spoke out after an extraordinary interview by the US president-elect during which he did not rule out using military or economic action to pursue acquisition of Greenland and the Panama Canal. The vast Arctic island of Greeland has been part of Denmark, an EU nation, for over 600 years.
“There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are...We are a strong continent,” Mr Barrot stressed. Trump, who returns to the White House for a second term as president on January 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a US state, said he would demand far higher defence spending from NATO allies and promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Still two weeks away from taking office, Trump has begun outlining an aggressive, expansionist foreign policy with little regard to diplomatic considerations or the concerns of US allies, including threatening a wave of economic tariffs. Asked at a free-wheeling, hour-long press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida whether he could assure the world he would not use military or economic coercion as he tries to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said, “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”.
