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Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter

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Defense &
National Security

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The Big Story

Anxieties jump at Trump’s Greenland, Panama Canal military talk

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.

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.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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Essential Reads

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:

Pentagon ‘not aware of any plans’ to take Greenland by force

The Pentagon on Wednesday said it was “not aware” of any plans to invade Greenland if ordered to do so, after President-elect Trump a day earlier refused to rule out using military force to seize Denmark’s autonomous territory. “I’m certainly not going to get into hypothetical situations. I think that’s for the incoming administration to speak to,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters …

Full Story

Bolton: Trump’s Greenland gambit could help Xi, Putin

John Bolton, President-elect Trump’s former national security adviser, said Trump’s unwillingness to rule out military force on Greenland could bolster the positions of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as they seek to justify their expansionist visions. In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night, Bolton said he’s concerned that Trump’s language could “have a further ramification, …

Full Story

Pentagon sending assets to California to battle wildfires

The Defense Department is sending additional assets to California to assist with the massive wildfire spreading across Los Angeles and the southern part of the state. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Wednesday the U.S. was sending 10 Navy helicopters with water buckets. Singh said the Pentagon is working closely with the California National Guard, which is adding two Modular Airborne FireFighting …

Full Story

On Our Radar

Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will give the opening remarks at the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at 5:30 a.m. at Ramstein Airbase Germany tomorrow.
The remains of former President Jimmy Carter will depart the U.S. Capitol tomorrow at 9 a.m. for an hour-long state funeral service at 10 a.m. at the Washington National Cathedral in northwest Washington, after which Carter’s family and his casket travel to Joint Base Andrews and where Special Air Mission 39 returns Carter to Georgia for interment.

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Gallego goes all in on GOP’s Laken Riley bill

Arizona’s newly minted Democratic senator has announced he is backing the Laken Riley Act, a bill advocates say would eliminate due process for immigrants living in the country illegally. As his first major announcement since taking office Friday, Sen. Ruben Gallego co-sponsored the bill named after …

Full Story

On Tap Tomorrow

Events in and around the defense world:

Brookings Institution will hold an online discussion on “What do people in Taiwan and the United States think about Taiwan’s security situation?” at 9 a.m.
Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili will speak virtually at the Hudson Institute at 10 a.m.

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Navy shipbuilding plan would cost $1 trillion over the next 30 years (Military Times)
Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI, police say (The Associated Press)
Army doctor files guilty plea in 41 cases of sexual contact, indecent behavior with patients (Military.com)

Trending Today

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

UnitedHealth shareholders demand review of policies that ‘delayed or denied’ health care access

Shareholders of UnitedHealth Group (UHG) are calling on the company’s board of directors to release a report on how its policy of limiting or … Read more

Germany warns Trump after Greenland takeover threat

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sent a warning to President-elect Trump over border rules as the incoming president continues his threat of taking over … Read more