The Big Story 

President-elect Trump’s refusal to rule out military action to attain his ambitions plans of acquiring the Panama Canal and Greenland has spurred a global debate over how seriously to take him. 

© AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

While it’s unclear how serious he is, Trump’s rhetoric alone has sparked concerns about imperialistic goals in his second administration, and what his endgame might be. 

“It is obviously out of the question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a local radio interview. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz added in a press conference Wednesday that it was a “fundamental principle of law” that “borders must not be moved by force.” 

While analysts don’t see the threats as serious, they do think they could impact global relations. Matt Zierler, associate professor of international relations at Michigan State University, said Trump’s threats were “not credible.” 

“His negotiation style is to go for the extreme rhetorical threat and then pull back from there,” he said, but warned the threats were still concerning because they could deteriorate relations with allies. 

Trump has not laid out any concrete plans for acquiring Greenland or the Panama Canal but has made his desire for both clear in the days ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20. 

In a Tuesday press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump, when asked if he could rule out military action or economic coercion to gain both countries, said “I can’t assure you on either of those two.” 

The Pentagon on Wednesday said it was “not aware” of any plans to invade Greenland if ordered to do so.

“I’m certainly not going to get into hypothetical situations. I think that’s for the incoming administration to speak to,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. “We’re concerned with the real national security concerns that confront this building every day.”

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

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