US President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club on January 07, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: VCG

President-elect Donald Trump's plan to "expand" the US by acquiring Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and making Canada the "51st state" has been rejected by not only the countries involved and European leaders, but also by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Democratic politicians.

"The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it's obviously one that's not going to happen, so we probably shouldn't waste a lot of time talking about it," Blinken told reporters at a press conference in Paris with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, according to Reuters.
 
Trump on Thursday reposted the cover of the New York Post on Social Truth, which features the headline "The Donroe Doctrine," with a smaller subtitle reading "Trump's Vision for the Western Hemisphere." Dominating the cover is a map of North America marked with four red "X". Canada is crossed out and labeled "51st State." Greenland is marked with an X and renamed "Our Land." The Panama Canal is also crossed out and titled "Pana-MAGA." Finally, the Gulf of Mexico is marked with a red X and renamed "Gulf of America."

Asked at a press conference on Tuesday at his Florida resort whether he could assure the world he would not use military or economic coercion as he tries to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said, "No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security," Reuters reported.
 
Panama has insisted that its sovereignty over the Panama Canal is "non-negotiable" and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit back at Trump's threat to use "economic force" to absorb Canada into the US saying there isn't "a snowball's chance in hell" to join the two, according to reports from BBC.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Wednesday that the US revert to a historical name for the territory, America Mexicana, in a clapback at President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, according to the NBC News. 

While Denmark's foreign minister said on Wednesday that Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but is unlikely to become a US state, after Donald Trump refused to rule out force to take control of the Arctic island, according to Reuters.
 
"Borders must not be moved by force," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, arguing that "the principle of inviolability of borders applies to every country, regardless of whether it is to the east or west of us," according to the Financial Times (FT).
 
"There is obviously no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they are, and I would even say starting with Russia, attack its sovereign borders," France's foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the France Inter radio station on Wednesday, according to the FT.
 
Leading Democrats in the US also said they have no interest in going along with the incoming president's plans to expand the US. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said his lawmakers were not elected to help seize the Panama Canal by force, while Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer challenged Trump to come up with a plan to lower costs for Americans if he wants his party's support for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a report from The Guardian.

Global Times