PNN – “Sky News” assessed economic, geopolitical and security goals as the reason for Donald Trump’s strong interest in taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the website of this British TV channel, in response to the question why “Donald Trump” put his hands on Greenland and the Panama Canal, stated that these two places, which are geographically far from each other, provide different interests for the president-elect. But his desire to take over both regions has caused strong reactions.
Since winning re-election, Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. Trump’s son’s visit to Greenland a few days ago caused more talk and rumors about this region.
Greenland’s unique geopolitical position
Sky News stated that the reason why Greenland is attractive to Trump is that this semi-autonomous territory of Denmark (a founding member of NATO) has a population of 57,000 and has been part of Denmark for 600 years. Although Greenland is located in the Arctic Circle between the US, Russia and Europe, the US has been eyeing it for more than 150 years due to its unique geopolitical location. Trump even proposed the idea of ​​buying Greenland during his first term as president.
According to reports, Greenland has rich reserves of various natural resources, especially valuable rare minerals that are needed in the telecommunications industry. Uranium, billions of barrels of untapped oil and a huge source of previously inaccessible natural gas are also among the region’s assets.
Sky News claims: Many of these minerals are currently mainly supplied by China, so countries like the United States are looking to exploit resources close to their soil.
Additionally, Greenland is important in terms of the climate crisis because, beyond oil, gas, or minerals, it has a large amount of ice that, if melted, would dramatically alter the world’s coastlines and possibly weather patterns. In fact, Greenland has enough ice that if it all melted, the world’s sea levels would rise 7.4 meters.
In response to Trump’s statements, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with the Danish TV channel that he does not believe that America will use military or economic power to acquire Greenland. He clarified: Greenland is not for sale.
According to this report, Greenland Prime Minister Moti Egde, who in the past wanted independence from Denmark, now says that he has no interest in becoming part of the United States?
The Panama Canal and Trump’s economic and political goals
Sky News also mentioned Trump’s interest in the Panama Canal, which is a waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean and saves time and costs for transporting goods. In 1979, during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, the control of the canal was transferred from the United States to Panama, and the American participation in the management of this strategic waterway ended in 1999. Now, the waterway is managed by the Panama Canal Authority, an independent government agency.
Trump’s words have been based on the channel’s excessive costs and China’s control; Sky News quoted the President of Panama, Jose Raul Molino, as emphasizing that China has no influence on the canal and denied the possibility of its control returning to the United States. He emphasized: Every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will remain so.
The report at the end of Trump’s promises about the revival of the “golden age” of national security considered the reason for such statements by Trump and added that in the case of Greenland, Trump will apply tariffs against Denmark, especially its pharmaceutical companies, if Denmark resists its offer to buy the island.