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Since winning re-election, president-elect Donald Trump has expressed an interest in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he could not assure reporters that military or economic coercion would not be used to try and gain control of both areas.

“I can say this, we need them for economic security,” he said.

The two locations, which are nowhere near each other geographically, pose different interests to the incoming president.

But his desire to seize them both has caused immense backlash.

Why does Trump want Greenland?

Greenland is the world’s largest island and a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. With a population of 57,000, it has been part of Denmark for 600 years.

It is also a founding member of NATO and is home to a large US military base.

Straddling the Arctic circle between the US, Russia and Europe, the island offers a unique geopolitical advantage, that America has eyed for more than 150 years.

FILE - A view of the village of Kangaamiut in Greenland, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
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The village of Kangaamiut in Greenland. Pic: AP

It’s even more valuable as the Arctic opens up more to shipping and trade.

The idea of purchasing Greenland is not a new idea for Mr Trump, as it came up during his first term in office. But he has since reiterated the benefit it could have for America’s national security.

Donald Trump Jr. visits Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Donald Trump Jr. is on a private visit to Greenland. Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK.
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Donald Trump Jr visits Nuuk, Greenland. Pic: Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters

Donald Trump Jr. visits Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Donald Trump Jr. is on a private visit to Greenland. Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK.
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Pic: Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters

“We need greater national security purposes,” Mr Trump said. “I’ve been told that for a long time, long before I even ran.

“People really don’t even know that Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security.”

Mr Trump’s claim to the island coincided with a visit by his son, Donald Trump Jr, who was in Greenland filming for a documentary, Sky News US partner network, NBC News said.

Analysis: Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

Greenland map

Rich in natural resources

As well as its location, Greenland holds rich deposits of various natural resources.

Locked inside the island are valuable rare earth minerals needed for telecommunications, as well as uranium, billions of untapped barrels of oil and a vast supply of natural gas that used to be inaccessible but is becoming less so.

Many of the same minerals are currently mostly supplied by China, so other countries such as the US are interested in tapping into available resources closer to home.

A front-row seat to the climate crisis

More than the oil, gas or minerals, Greenland has a lot of ice – and provides a front-row seat to the globe’s climate crisis.

If that ice melts, it would reshape coastlines across the globe and has the potential to dramatically shift weather patterns.

FILE - Two groups from the Poseidon Expeditions tour company look at a glacier in the Scoresby Sund, on Sept. 7, 2023, in Greenland. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)
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A glacier in Greenland. Pic: AP

In fact, Greenland holds enough ice that if it all melts, the world’s seas would rise by 24ft (7.4m).

Greenland also influences hurricane and winter storm activity. Because of its mountains of ice, it has the power to change patterns in the jet stream, which brings storms across the globe and dictates daily weather.

Often, especially in winter, a blocking system of high pressure off Greenland causes Arctic air to plunge to the west and east, sweeping across North America and Europe, winter weather expert Judah Cohen told the Associated Press.

What effect could this have on the UK?

British politician and security expert, Mike Martin, explained on X that the seas between Greenland and the UK – which has Iceland in the middle – are “utterly vital” for NATO.

He explained that during the Cold War, the UK would often have 50 ships stationed in the area to look after the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap – which is the “only sensible route” that the Russian northern fleet has to get into the Atlantic Ocean.

Both the UK and Denmark continue to have a shared security interest in the gap.

The UK government website states that as part of the UK’s Arctic Policy Framework, it will continue to develop military capability in collaboration with Denmark, to allow it to operate in the region and in order to safeguard UK interests and those of its allies.

However, if overtaken by the US, this collaboration could be affected.

British foreign minister David Lammy told Sky News that the comments were “classic Donald Trump”.

“He came in very clearly saying he was going to work for working people,” Mr Lammy said. “And, he sees American national economic security as centring that.

“That is why he’s raising issues, in relation to the Panama Canal, and I suspect to Greenland.”

He added that behind Mr Trump’s “intensity”, there are “actually quite serious national security and economic issues”.

‘Greenland is not for sale’

Addressing Mr Trump’s comments in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she did not believe the US would use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.

“Greenland is not for sale,” Ms Frederiksen said, adding: “We need to stay calm and stick to our principles.”

Referring to the US as Denmark’s “most important and closest ally” she said she welcomed the US taking a greater interest in the Arctic region, but said it would have to be done in a way that is “respectful of the Greenlandic people”.

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen talks as she walks through the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said ‘Greenland is not for sale’. Pic: AP

In the past, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has called for independence from Denmark, but said he has no interest in the island nation becoming part of the US.

While Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, added: “Most people don’t want it.

“I think some people find it quite disrespectful. And the way it has been done, and just the fact that you’re saying that you can buy another country.”

FILED - 15 January 2024, Denmark, Kopenhagen: M'te B. Egede, Head of Government of Greenland, stands during a visit by King Frederik X to the parliament in the Danish capital the day after the Danish change of throne. Photo by: Steffen Trumpf/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Mute Egede, head of the government of Greenland. Pic: AP

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot also weighed in on the matter, saying on Wednesday that the European Union would not let “other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are”.

“If you’re asking me whether I think the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no. But have we entered into
a period of time when it is survival of the fittest? Then my answer is yes,” Mr Barrot said.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the principle of inviolability of borders applies to every country no matter how powerful.

“Borders must not be moved by force,” Mr Scholz said in a reaction to Mr Trump’s remarks, although he did not mention the president-elect by name.

Why does Trump want the Panama Canal?

The Panama Canal is a waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It acts as a shortcut route, saving time and costs for transporting goods, according to the Embassy of Panama website.

Under the Jimmy Carter administration, control of the canal was handed from the US to Panama in 1979, with the US ending its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.

FILE - A cargo ship traverses the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon, Panama, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
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A cargo ship on the Panama Canal. Pic: AP

It is now administered by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous government entity, although a Hong Kong-based contractor operates two ports connected to it, NBC reported.

Mr Trump has claimed that the US is being treated unfairly when it is “overcharged” higher rates for its ships to sail the canal than those of other countries.

Panama Canal map

He claimed that Panama is in “violation” of a deal with the US and that “China is basically taking it over”.

“We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday. “They’ve abused that gift.”

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Trump takes dig at Jimmy Carter on Panama Canal

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino denied in a video statement last month that China has influence over the canal and shot down the idea of the US taking back authority over it.

“Every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to be so,” he said.

The Panama Canal's Madden Dam stands in Alajuela Lake in Colon, Panama, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
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The Panama Canal’s Madden Dam. Pic: AP

Could Trump actually do it?

The incoming president has offered few details on how he might carry out his plans to grow the US footprint, even as he promised throughout the news conference to return the country to a “golden age” of improved national security and “common sense”.

If Greenland becomes independent, it could choose to become associated with the US.

One option could be to form a so-called “free association” pact with America, similar to the status of Pacific island nations Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

Mr Trump has also suggested he would impose tariffs on Denmark if it resists his offer to purchase the island.

This could make things difficult for Danish companies, particularly drugmakers like Novo Nordisk, which sells the weight loss drug Wegovy and the type 2 diabetes medicine Ozempic, according to investment magazine Barron’s.

Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University, told the magazine that the Trump administration could tailor specific tariffs to target products made by Danish companies regardless of where they are manufactured.

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Trump’s tariffs are about something more than economics: power

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Trump's tariffs are about something more than economics: power

Tanking stock markets, collapsing world orders, devastating trade wars; economists with their hair ablaze are scrambling to keep up.

But as we try to make sense of Donald Trumps’s tariff tsunami, economic theory only goes so far. In the end this surely is about something more primal.

Power.

Understanding that may be crucial to how the world responds.

Yes, economics helps explain the impact. The world’s economy has after all shifted on its axis, the way it’s been run for decades turned on its head.

Instead of driving world trade, America is creating a trade war. We will all feel the impact.

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PM will ‘fight’ for deal with US

Donald Trump says he is settling scores, righting wrongs. America has been raped, looted and pillaged by the world trading system.

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But don’t be distracted by the hyperbole – and if you think this is about economics alone, you may be missing the point.

Above all, tariffs give Donald Trump power. They strike fear into allies and enemies, from governments to corporations.

This is a president who runs his presidency like a medieval emperor or mafia don.

It is one reason why since his election we have seen what one statesman called a conga line of sycophants make their way to the White House, from world leaders to titans of industry.

The conga line will grow longer as they now redouble their efforts hoping to special treatment from Trump’s tariffs. Sir Keir Starmer among them.

President Trump’s using similar tactics at home, deploying presidential power to extract concessions and deter dissent in corporate America, academia and the US media. Those who offer favours are spared punishment.

His critics say he seeks a form power for the executive or presidential branch of government that the founding fathers deliberately sought to prevent.

Whether or not that is true, the same playbook of divide and rule through intimidation can now be applied internationally. Thanks to tariffs

Each country will seek exceptions but on Trump’s terms. Those who retaliate may meet escalation.

This is the unforgiving calculus for governments including our own plotting their next moves.

The temptation will be to give Trump whatever he wants to spare their economies, but there is a jeopardy that compounds the longer this goes on.

Read more:
Do Trump’s numbers on tariffs really add up?
Trump hits island home only to penguins with 10% tariffs

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng gestures to Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves following a photo session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Florence Lo/Pool Photo via AP)
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Could America’s traditional allies turn to China? Pic: AP

Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister who coined the conga line comparison, put it this way: “Pretty much all the international leaders I have seen that have sucked up to Trump have been run over. The reality is if you suck up to bullies, whether it’s global affairs or in the playground, you just get more bullying.”

Trading partners may be able to mitigate the impact of these tariffs through negotiation, but that may only encourage this unorthodox president to demand ever more?

Ultimately the world will need a more reliable superpower than that.

In the hands of such a president, America cannot be counted on.

When it comes to security, stability and prosperity, allies will need to fend for themselves.

And they will need new friends. If Washington can’t be relied on, Beijing beckons.

America First will, more and more, mean America on its own.

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‘A genius actor’, ‘firecracker’, and ‘my friend’: Tributes paid to Top Gun star Val Kilmer

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'A genius actor', 'firecracker', and 'my friend': Tributes paid to Top Gun star Val Kilmer

Actors, directors and celebrity friends have paid tribute to Val Kilmer, after he died aged 65.

The California-born star of Top Gun, Batman and Heat died of pneumonia on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press.

She said Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.

Tributes flooded in after reports broke of the actor’s death, with No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin among the first to share their memories.

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Watch: Val Kilmer in his most iconic roles

He wrote on Instagram: “See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those.

“I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”

Kyle Maclachlan, who co-starred with Kilmer in the 1991 biopic The Doors, wrote on social media: “You’ll always be my Jim. See you on the other side my friend.”

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Michael Mann, who directed Kilmer in 1995’s Heat, also paid tribute in a statement, saying: “I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.

“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”

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Heat co-star Danny Trejo also called Kilmer “a great actor, a wonderful person, and a dear friend of mine” on Instagram.

Cher, who once dated the actor, said on X that “U Were Funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND… BRILLIANT as Mark Twain, BRAVE here during ur sickness”.

Lifelong friend and director of Twixt, Francis Ford Coppola said: “Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life.

“He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know – I will always remember him.”

The Top Gun account on X also said it was remembering Kilmer, who starred as Iceman in both the 1986 original and 2022 sequel, and “whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations”.

Nicolas Cage added that “I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing”.

“I thought he was a genius actor,” he said. “I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant and I admired his commitment and sense of humor.

“He should have won the Oscar for The Doors.”

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Island home only to penguins hit by tariffs – and other things you may have missed on ‘Liberation Day’

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Island home only to penguins hit by tariffs - and other things you may have missed on 'Liberation Day'

No one expected penguins to bear the brunt of Liberation Day. 

But among the barrage of tariffs set out by Donald Trump, the US also took aim at uninhabited islands, talked up American beef and turned its nose up at plastic eggs.

Here is what you might have missed in the US leader’s expansive announcement.

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What the numbers behind Trump’s tariffs really mean

Tiny territories hit with big tariffs

At first glance, newly imposed tariffs on countries such as China, the European Union, India and the UK stand out – ranging from 34% to 10% respectively.

But the president also imposed tariffs on dozens of tiny territories – some of which don’t even have human inhabitants.

One of those was the Heard and McDonald Islands, an external territory of Australia in the Antarctic that is inhabited only by penguins and seals.

All of Australia's external territories that have been hit with US tariffs
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All of Australia’s external territories that have been hit with US tariffs

Despite having no human residents – or imports and exports – the island now faces a 10% tariff for any goods bound for the US.

According to export data from the World Bank, the US imported $1.4m (£1m) of mainly “machinery and electrical” products from Heard Island and McDonald Islands in 2022.

Australian territory Norfolk Island, a volcanic island 600 miles east of Queensland, was also hit with a hefty 29% tariff on exports to the US. That’s much higher than mainland Australia, which had a 10% tariff imposed.

The news was met with confusion by some of Norfolk Island’s 2,188 residents.

“Norfolk Island is a little dot in the world,” Richard Cottle, owner of a concrete-mixing business on the island, said on Thursday.

“We don’t export anything. It was just a mistake”.

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How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?

Although the island does ship a modest amount of Kentia palm seeds abroad, this is typically worth less than $1m (£760,000) a year, with the products mostly going to Europe.

According to US government data, America has recorded trade deficits with Norfolk Island for the past three years.

Other tiny nations and territories were also hit with 10% tariffs, including Tokelau, a dependent territory of New Zealand, with a population of around 1,600 people, and the Cocos Islands, another territory of Australia, with a population of around 600 people.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters he had no explanation for the tariffs, calling them “unexpected” and “a bit strange”.

A Southern Elephant Seal pup on the beach below the Baudissin Glacier on Heard Island.
Pic: VWPics/AP
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We have a feeling the seals won’t welcome Trump for his next holiday to the Heard Island… Pic: AP

‘Our beef is beautiful, theirs is weak’

After announcing a 20% tariff against the European Union, Mr Trump’s secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick spoke to Fox News to try to explain what was behind the decision.

In a brief but bizarre rant, Mr Lutnick spoke about the bloc’s ban on imported chicken from the US.

“I mean European Union won’t take chicken from America,” he said.

“They will take lobsters from America… they hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak.”

The EU has a ban on chicken washed in chlorine – a practice that is approved by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Although US beef is not completely prohibited in Europe, any beef that has been treated with artificial growth hormones – which is legal in the US and common among producers – is banned by the EU.

Why was Russia exempt?

Russia was not on Mr Trump’s tariff list, despite his threat to introduce some on Russian oil imports last week.

The US president made the threat after telling NBC’s Kirsten Welker he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Vladimir Putin criticised the credibility of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as fragile peace negotiations are ongoing.

Read more:
World leaders react to Trump’s tariff announcement
Do Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff numbers add up?

Mr Trump said that if Russia was unable to make a deal on “stopping bloodshed in Ukraine” – and Mr Trump felt that Moscow was to blame – then he would put secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia”.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he said.

Axios reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the publication on Wednesday that Russia was left off the tariffs list because US sanctions already “preclude any meaningful trade”.

Russia ran a $2.5bn goods trade surplus with the US in 2024, according to the US Trade Representative’s office, falling from $35bn in 2021 as a result of sanctions put in place due to the war in Ukraine.

World’s poorest nations face highest tariffs

Many of Mr Trump’s tariffs have targeted the world’s poorest countries.

Lesotho in southern Africa, listed as the 22 poorest country in the world, has been slapped with the highest duty of 50%. It primarily exports diamonds and garments, with the US as one of the top five exporting destinations, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

The second-highest tariff went to Cambodia at 49%, even though the US is Cambodia’s largest single-country export destination.

Madagascar in east Africa, the world’s ninth poorest country, will face 47% reciprocal tariffs. It primarily exports vanilla, cloves, and garments, with the US among the top five countries it exports to, according to NBC.

‘Huge complexities’ for Northern Ireland and the Republic

Tanaiste Simon Harris speaks to media outside Government Buildings, Dublin. Picture date: Thursday April 3, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Tariffs . Photo credit should read: Cillian Sherlock/PA Wire
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Deputy premier Simon Harris said the difference in tariffs between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will cause complexities. Pic: Cillian Sherlock/PA Wire

Under the 10% tariff imposed on the UK, Northern Irish goods will also be covered at the same rate.

Whereas the Republic of Ireland will subject to a 20% tariffs – which Mr Trump imposed on the entirety of the EU.

Reacting to the announcement, Ireland deputy premier Simon Harris said the tariff difference would create “huge complexities” for products that need to be carried across the cross-border dimension during production.

He said the issues were similar to those at play during the Brexit debate around maintaining a frictionless land border on the island of Ireland.

Mr Harris said it was on the US to “outline their understanding” on how the 10% differential between Northern Ireland and Ireland will play out.

Trump defines groceries

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Trump says ‘groceries’ is a ‘beautiful term’

As has become common when delivering major addresses, the US president repeatedly deviated from his script.

At one point, he took time to define the word groceries: “It’s a bag with a lot of different things in it.”

He went on to describe the word as “old-fashioned” but “beautiful”.

‘Could you use plastic eggs?’

In another part of his wide-ranging speech, Mr Trump got onto the topic of eggs – the price of which reached an all-time high earlier this year in the US due to the outbreak of bird flu.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump confirmed that the annual White House tradition of rolling around 30,000 Easter eggs across the South Lawn is expected to proceed, and will use real eggs, despite pleas for plastic ones to be used instead.

“They were saying that for Easter ‘Please don’t use eggs. Could you use plastic eggs?’ I say, we don’t want to do that,” Mr Trump said.

He did not clarify who was telling him not to use real eggs.

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