Donald Trump has his own real estate empire, but now he’s seeking to expand America’s. Over the holidays and before his inauguration, for instance, he repeatedly issued calls for the U.S. to seize control of Greenland—a territory of NATO ally Denmark since the 1700s and self-governing since 2009. The northern European country has responded by announcing plans to spend more than $2 billion on increasing its military presence in the Arctic. In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, though, it was not Greenland that Trump cited as his next conquest but rather the Panama Canal. “We gave it to Panama,” he declared, “and we’re taking it back.” Panama’s president, José Raul Mulino, quickly rejected any prospect of a change of ownership, but Trump seems unlikely to give up and is reportedly sending his newly confirmed Secretary of State, former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, to Panama this week for his first foreign trip. While the chance of Panama selling the canal, either voluntarily or under duress from an imperially minded U.S. administration, is quite unlikely, it raises the question of why Trump cares so much—and, on a related note, what the waterway is really worth. Read more: https://trib.al/g2BUNPP
Trump doesn't benefit from having more access. His motives aren't as much pro-America as they are anti-China. We can notice that he still occasionally mentions Hilary, Obama, Biden, Kamala... he's very vendetta and vindictive driven. Being able to prevent Chinese ships from using the canal to get to the Caribbean, Brazil and a route to Africa from the west sides of South America and Mexico is the strategy. If he can "have" the canal, it doesn't increase the US usage. Trump is all about the sabotage; from trade wars to sanctions to the like, he believes that the best strategy is to prevent countries from succeeding rather than competing. Preventing the progress of other countries is his goal, his tendencies tell his intentions. It's a sign of weakness but it's what he knows best. USA has full access to the canal, why else would he need to have it as "America's"? Come on Forbes, that's an easy one.
Charlotte Hulett
2mo
I would expect more of Forbes. They know how important the canal is. Shame on them for publishing such garbage.
Partner
2moWell, if you did your research you would realize we tried to buy Greenland for 100 million in 1946. We bought Alaska for 7 million in 1867. You remember the Louisiana purchase from France. The war with Mexico in 1848 gave us the western states including California. We build the Panama Canal. But, the rebels from that area made it hard to protect, so a deal was made. It’s not unusual to buy land. But in today’s world most is not available for purchase. We are not like Russia who invaded the Ukraine and other countries that border it.