President-elect Donald Trump declares a national economic emergency imposing widespread tariffs as he escalates threats to seize the Panama Canal, seize Greenland and force Canada into the United States, CNN reports He is said to be mulling over the idea of doing so.
The emergency powers would allow President Trump to impose wide-ranging tariffs against both allies and adversaries through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, four people familiar with the discussions said.
Emergency powers would give Trump greater latitude in crafting new tariff programs without having to prove traditional national security justifications, sources told CNN. “Nothing is off the table,” one source familiar with the matter told the network, confirming that there had been active discussions about declaring a national emergency.
The exploratory review comes after President Trump did not rule out military or economic coercion regarding Panama and Greenland in a rambling press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. This was carried out amid growing opposition.
President Trump has claimed that the Panama Canal is “run by China” and called for it to be returned to U.S. control. President Trump said, “The Panama Canal was built for our military. ‘Look, the Panama Canal is essential to our country.’
The president-elect also threatened Denmark with punitive tariffs on Greenland, warning that he would “impose tariffs on Denmark at very high levels” if the country resisted his territorial ambitions. His comments coincided with the arrival of his son, Donald Trump Jr., in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, where he claimed to be visiting as a tourist and to “make Greenland great again.” It is reported that he distributed hats with the name ‘Ni’ on them.
Allied leaders quickly rejected Trump’s position. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino insisted that “every square meter” of the canal would remain under Panama’s sovereignty. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated that “Greenland is not for sale” and stressed that the region’s future will be determined by its people.
President Trump’s aggressive stance extended to Canada, including a proposal to use “economic power” to turn Canada into a state in the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the idea, saying, “There’s no snowballing chance that Canada will become part of the United States.”
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Some Trump advisers tried to downplay the rhetoric, telling The Wall Street Journal that the comments were a negotiating tactic rather than a literal policy position. Alexander Gray, former Trump National Security Council chief of staff, characterized the approach as part of a broader strategy to “defend the Western Hemisphere from great power competitors.”
U.S. financial markets fell in morning trading but ended the day almost flat.
