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

US President-elect Donald Trump's recent intent over Greenland, the Panama Canal, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico have received a series of oppositions and criticisms from not only Denmark, Panama, Canada and Mexico, but also other members of the West like France and Germany.

Germany and France have warned US President-elect against threatening Greenland, after the US president-elect refused to rule out using military force to seize Denmark's autonomous territory, the BBC reported. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, "the principle of the inviolability of borders applies to every country ... no matter whether it's a very small one or a very powerful one."

The European Union will not let other nations attack its sovereign borders, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said on Wednesday, responding to comments by US President-elect on taking over Greenland, Reuters reported.

Trump declined on Monday to rule out military or economic action as part of his avowed desire to have the US take control of Greenland, as well as the Panama Canal. Barrot said he did not believe the US would invade the vast Arctic island that has been part of Denmark for over 600 years. 

According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said at a press conference in Paris with his French counterpart Barrot that "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."

More critical responses from the countries directly targeted by Trump's comments have emerged in recent days. According to Reuters, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday suggested North America including the United States could be renamed "Mexican America" - a historic name used on an early map of the region - in response to Trump's pledge to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."

According to Politico, the European Commission on Wednesday danced around questions about Trump's intent over Greenland, as one journalist pressed the spokesperson Anitta Hipper on Wednesday that "Are you waiting for American marines to land in Greenland or what?"

"It is clear that the sovereignty of states has to be respected," Commission spokesperson Hipper said, adding that Brussels was looking forward to working with the next US administration toward "a stronger transatlantic agenda."

Canada's finance minister Dominic LeBlanc said Trump's talks that Canada should become the 51st state is no longer a joke and are meant to undermine America's closest ally, the AP reported on Thursday. "The joke is over," said LeBlanc. "It's a way for him, I think, to sow confusion, to agitate people, to create chaos knowing this will never happen."