NYCFPA denounces the new foreign policy of Trump with Panama and Greenland. Donald Trump’s unexpected threat to reclaim the Panama Canal and his expansionist claim that Greenland should belong to the United States indicate that the new president of the United States will pursue a foreign policy free from diplomatic etiquette. Trump’s aides have been preparing him to handle two foreign policy crises as he gets ready to take office on January 20: the war in Ukraine and several Middle Eastern conflicts, both of which the president-elect has pledged to address quickly.
Trump seemed more concerned with threatening American friends like Denmark, which has sovereignty over Greenland, and Panama. Over the past few weeks, Canada has had to endure his taunting that it ought to be the 51st state in the union. Trump’s supporters claim that he is just a fervent supporter of “America First” principles. This entails harshly protecting American interests, whether economic or otherwise when interacting with friends and essentially ignoring the potential repercussions for allies. As a senior national security official for Trump’s 2017–2021 administration, Victoria Coates stated, “The idea is that what’s good for America is good for the rest of the world.” “So he takes a clear-eyed look at what are America’s interests in any given situation.”
The Panamanian president strongly refuted Trump’s claim that the United States should regain control of the crucial Central American waterway because Panama was charging shipping excessive fees to use it.
Trump also warned of possible Chinese influence on the project, saying he would not allow the canal to end up in the “wrong hands,” while addressing a group of supporters in Arizona. Speaking on condition of anonymity, two Trump foreign policy aides contended that he was tackling a more significant issue growing Chinese influence over Latin American governments and economies that they anticipate would be a major emphasis of his second term. Although CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based company, has long operated two ports on the canal’s Caribbean and Pacific entrances, China does not own or operate the canal.
Trump’s unfriendly foreign policy has been condemned by the NYCFPA, indicating serious concern about what might come of such harsh rhetoric. Critics claim that hazards to Greenland and Panama erode diplomatic standards, destroy ties between nations, and give the world a sense of uncertainty.
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The New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs (NYCFPA) is a policy, research, and educational organization headquartered in New York State with an office in Washington D.C. NYCFPA is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, institution devoted to conducting in-depth research and analysis on every aspect of American foreign policy and its impact around the world. The organization is funded by individual donors. The organization receives no corporate or government donations.