Berliner Boersenzeitung - Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys

EUR -
AED 3.818571
AFN 72.805264
ALL 98.459501
AMD 411.047428
ANG 1.873149
AOA 948.153009
ARS 1066.40685
AUD 1.665731
AWG 1.871354
AZN 1.770167
BAM 1.954599
BBD 2.09861
BDT 124.203682
BGN 1.956444
BHD 0.392138
BIF 3072.91182
BMD 1.039641
BND 1.410533
BOB 7.197577
BRL 6.447234
BSD 1.039361
BTN 88.518609
BWP 14.376166
BYN 3.40091
BYR 20376.967177
BZD 2.090316
CAD 1.496511
CDF 2983.770243
CHF 0.933567
CLF 0.037319
CLP 1029.744108
CNY 7.588031
CNH 7.593222
COP 4586.896897
CRC 527.775703
CUC 1.039641
CUP 27.550491
CVE 110.197288
CZK 25.153061
DJF 185.086272
DKK 7.461099
DOP 63.061251
DZD 140.595896
EGP 53.09655
ERN 15.594618
ETB 132.308702
FJD 2.411084
FKP 0.823377
GBP 0.829644
GEL 2.921718
GGP 0.823377
GHS 15.278612
GIP 0.823377
GMD 74.854191
GNF 8979.482471
GTQ 8.008079
GYD 217.446388
HKD 8.073801
HNL 26.400778
HRK 7.457248
HTG 135.906491
HUF 412.769262
IDR 16841.407426
ILS 3.822178
IMP 0.823377
INR 88.589748
IQD 1361.563374
IRR 43755.902723
ISK 145.10303
JEP 0.823377
JMD 162.250304
JOD 0.73742
JPY 163.285526
KES 134.373654
KGS 90.448953
KHR 4168.438663
KMF 484.602736
KPW 935.676483
KRW 1516.249113
KWD 0.320365
KYD 0.866168
KZT 542.196842
LAK 22744.024716
LBP 93074.80929
LKR 307.7509
LRD 189.163767
LSL 19.153731
LTL 3.06979
LVL 0.628869
LYD 5.103864
MAD 10.457075
MDL 19.134243
MGA 4899.989155
MKD 61.543358
MMK 3376.714007
MNT 3532.700603
MOP 8.317989
MRU 41.387569
MUR 48.935777
MVR 16.009712
MWK 1802.292564
MXN 20.966818
MYR 4.665929
MZN 66.436949
NAD 19.153731
NGN 1609.229661
NIO 38.246499
NOK 11.826987
NPR 141.629974
NZD 1.841979
OMR 0.400273
PAB 1.039361
PEN 3.876818
PGK 4.216409
PHP 60.777944
PKR 289.592057
PLN 4.26978
PYG 8114.014266
QAR 3.789172
RON 4.976135
RSD 116.968977
RUB 104.223017
RWF 1439.515476
SAR 3.90533
SBD 8.715889
SCR 14.497758
SDG 625.365039
SEK 11.48763
SGD 1.413382
SHP 0.823377
SLE 23.70549
SLL 21800.758925
SOS 594.034989
SRD 36.51535
STD 21518.47345
SVC 9.094412
SYP 2612.129913
SZL 19.148234
THB 35.496457
TJS 11.355023
TMT 3.649141
TND 3.310166
TOP 2.434943
TRY 36.650488
TTD 7.059662
TWD 34.016852
TZS 2531.526135
UAH 43.685157
UGX 3819.652978
USD 1.039641
UYU 46.501427
UZS 13409.760244
VES 53.619681
VND 26458.868095
VUV 123.428283
WST 2.872308
XAF 655.554188
XAG 0.035084
XAU 0.000397
XCD 2.809682
XDR 0.79681
XOF 655.554188
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.300183
ZAR 19.313809
ZMK 9358.019675
ZMW 28.764325
ZWL 334.764037
  • RYCEF

    -0.0200

    7.25

    -0.28%

  • RBGPF

    -0.7000

    59.8

    -1.17%

  • AZN

    1.2800

    66.63

    +1.92%

  • RELX

    0.1200

    45.59

    +0.26%

  • GSK

    0.4600

    34.06

    +1.35%

  • SCS

    -0.0900

    11.65

    -0.77%

  • RIO

    0.5900

    59.23

    +1%

  • CMSC

    0.0420

    23.902

    +0.18%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    8.37

    -0.24%

  • NGG

    0.5200

    59.02

    +0.88%

  • CMSD

    -0.0100

    23.55

    -0.04%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.1

    +0.33%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    22.84

    -1.4%

  • BCC

    -0.5100

    122.24

    -0.42%

  • BP

    0.1500

    28.75

    +0.52%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    36.22

    -0.06%

Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys / Photo: JOSH EDELSON - AFP

Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys

Donald Trump has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, revived calls to buy Greenland and joked about annexing Canada -- leaving the world guessing once again whether he is serious or not.

Text size:

By challenging the sovereignty of some of Washington's closest allies four weeks before he even returns to the Oval Office, the US-president elect has underscored his credentials as global disruptor-in-chief.

His comments have renewed fears from his first term that Trump will end up being harsher on US friends than he is on adversaries like Russia and China.

But there are also suspicions that billionaire tycoon Trump is looking for leverage as part of the "art of the deal" -- and that the former reality television star is grabbing headlines to look strong at home and abroad.

"It's hard to tell how much of this he really wants, and how much is the latest soundbite that will be heard around the world," said Frank Sesno, a professor at George Washington University and former White House correspondent.

"He puts other leaders in position of having to figure out what is literal and what is not," he told AFP.

- 'Not for sale' -

The idea of buying Greenland is not a new one for Trump. He also raised the prospect of purchasing the vast strategic island, a Danish territory, during his first term in office.

He revived his push over the weekend when naming his ambassador to Copenhagen, saying the "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for US national security.

But he received the same answer this time as he did then, with Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede saying on Monday that the resource-rich island was "not for sale."

Yet his most headline-grabbing remarks have been on Panama, as he slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through and threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington.

Trump said on Sunday that if Panama did not agree "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America -- in full, quickly and without question."

He also hinted at China's growing influence around the canal, which was built by the United States in 1914 to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was returned to Panama under a 1977 deal.

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino dismissed Trump's threats, saying that "every square meter" of the canal would remain in Panamanian hands. Trump responded on TruthSocial: "We'll see about that!"

Trump also teased neighboring Canada last week that it would be a "great idea" to become the 51st US state -- but against a dark backdrop of threatened tariffs.

- 'Message for China' -

Sesno said it was hard for other countries to know how to deal with Trump's comments.

"Well, it's clearly a joke. Or is it? said Sesno.

"Imagine if you're the President of Panama, how do you react to something like that? You can't ignore it and your country will not let you. So the ripple effect of these comments is extraordinary."

Trump's harsh treatment of US allies also stands in stark contrast to his repeated praise for the leaders of US foes -- including Russia's Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in 2022 in a bid for a land-grab.

But there is still likely to be method behind Trump's rhetoric.

"Maybe the message is for China" when Trump talks about buying Greenland, said Stephanie Pezard, senior political scientist with the Rand Corporation.

Just as Trump expressed concern about Beijing's influence in Panama, China's growing presence in the Arctic and its ties with Russia were "something that the US is really worried about," Pezard told AFP.

But there could also be a signal to Denmark that 'If you're too friendly with China, you'll find us in your way" -- even though Denmark and Greenland had been "very good NATO allies."

And perhaps Trump knows the reality.

Any US plan to "buy" Greenland would be unfeasible "not just in international law but more broadly in the global order that the US has been trying to uphold," she said.

(G.Gruner--BBZ)