Over the course of a press conference held in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 7, 2025the president-elect of the USA Donald Trump did not rule out the use of military or economic strength to take control of Panama Canal and of Greenland during his mandate. In addition to this statement, the tycoon has released others statements very strong in the field of foreign policy (he spoke for example about Canada and the Gulf of Mexico), confirming theunpredictability demonstrated in his previous mandate. In particular, in fact, when a journalist asked him if he excluded theuse of military force or instruments of economic coercion to take control of Greenland and Panama, Trump responded with not being able to do it absolutely, reiterating the strategic importance of the two territories for US national security.
The statement sparked reactions amazed and disconcerted throughout the world (for example by France), but it should be read as a political message addressed to allies and adversaries of the United States, as well as the beginning of a negotiation strategyand actually aimed at obtaining greater control of the two contexts. Both Panama (in particular the Panama Canal) and Greenland have ageopolitical and economic importance crucial for the USA. However, the use of force is currently an option to be excluded and remains a “threatening declaration”, also because Greenland is part of Denmark, a country allied with the United States and a member of NATO, and Panama is a sovereign state to which the The canal has been entrusted to management since 2000 by the United States (following the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977).
The importance of Panama for the USA
In a nutshell, the importance of the Panama Canal for the United States is predominantly geopolitical: it is about one of the main hubs (in slang sayings choke points) of world tradewhich for the80-90% travel by sea. In fact, exchanges between the Pacific and the Atlantic preferably pass through the Panama Canal, but even any military vessels that need to go from one ocean to another cannot help but make use of it, if they do not want to travel much longer, more complex and expensive. Hence the importance of controlling such a strategic bottleneck, even more so after the difficulty shown following a period of severe droughtwhich began in 2023 and was partly reversed, which produced a decline in the number of ships allowed access to the infrastructure (due to the lack of fresh water necessary for the functioning of the canal itself, which must be pumped and released in a lock system).
Moving on toeconomic sphereon the other hand, the revenue deriving from passage fees that each ship must pay to cross the Canal (we are also talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars for the largest container ships) are one of the largest items in the Panamanian GDP and in thefiscal year 2024 they brought into the state coffers almost 5 billion dollars. For the US economy this is actually a figure of very little importance, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a certain interest from this point of view too.
Finally, one should be noted ever greater influence (commercial and geopolitical) of China in Central and South America, which the United States wants to try to stem so as not to find at a certain point their main adversary permanently settled in what they consider their “home garden” (since the Monroe Doctrine).
The importance of Greenland to the United States
On the importance of Greenland for the USA (and not only: also for China and the European Union) we wrote a ad hoc article that we leave you at the bottom of the page to learn more. Here we therefore summarize what has already been said there.
Greenland is the largest island in the world if you don’t consider Australia, it is 84% covered by ice (which are melting fast) and has a population of approx 60,000 inhabitants. Enjoys broad administrative autonomydespite being politically part of the Kingdom of Denmark (which maintains control over defense and foreign policy).
The island is of great geopolitical interest for its natural resources (among others there are hydrocarbons, uranium and rare earths) and for the location in the Arctic. During the Cold War, the Thule US and NATO air base was crucial for monitoring the movements of the Soviet Union and today, with the possible and stable opening of the Arctic Routethe island is increasingly coveted by the USA, China and the EU. The United States, in particular, has attempted to acquire Greenland several times, including a Trump proposal in 2019, which was rejected by the Greenlandic and Danish governments.
Recently, Denmark has increased the military spending in the Arctic to control new sea routes and signed an agreement with the USA to strengthen the NATO presence. China, on the other hand, seeks to expand its economic influence with mining and infrastructure investments. Finally, the EU has opened a office in Nuuk in 2024 to strengthen ties with the island. Greenland, for its part, continues its journey towards one greater independencewhile trying to maintain a balance between different global powers and with Denmark.
