After Trump Suggests Using Military To Seize Panama Canal & Greenland, World Leaders Wonder Whether He’s Serious

President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he could use military force to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland.

In a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump responded to questions of military force. “It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country,” he said. “We need Greenland for national security purposes.” He also suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Trump said the canal “is vital to our country” and added “it’s being operated by China,” previously accusing Panama of overcharging U.S. ships to use the canal. CK Hutchison Holdings, a Chinese company based in Hong Kong, operates two ports at the canal’s entrances.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded to Trump’s claims, saying the canal has “absolutely no Chinese interference.”

“Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a huge mistake,” Trump said about treaties negotiated under President Jimmy Carter that gave the land back to Panama.

Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and founding member of NATO, is also home to a large U.S. military base. Trump voiced doubts that Denmark’s claim to Greenland is legitimate.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2 that the United States is one of Denmark’s “most important and closest allies” and that she did not believe the U.S. would use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.

“It must be done in a way that allows Denmark and the United States to still cooperate in, among other things, NATO,” Frederiksen said.

Trump even floated the idea of Canada joining the U.S.

“That would be something,” Trump said in response to questions about the U.S. taking control of Canada.

It is unclear whether the president-elect is serious about seizing Canadian territory. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you look at what that looks like. And it would also be much better for national security,” he said.

Trump claimed that the United States spends billions of dollars defending Canada and criticized Canadian imports, including cars, lumber and dairy products.

On Tuesday, Trump took to Truth Social with an image of an outline of the U.S. and Canada, both plastered with the American flag, captioning it “Oh Canada!” He uploaded another shortly after with “United States” labeled across an image of both countries.