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President-elect Donald Trump said during a preview of policies for his second administration on Tuesday that he would not rule out the use of economic pressure, or even military force, to obtain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. 

Asked during his Mar-a-Lago press conference if he would pledge not to use coercive force against Panama or Greenland, Trump replied, “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.”

“But I can say this — we need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military,” he added.

“Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China — China. And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama; we didn’t give it to China. And they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift,” he elaborated.

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“It should have never been made, by the way,” he continued. “Giving the Panama Canal is why Jimmy Carter lost the election, in my opinion, more so maybe than the hostages.”

Trump was referring to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1978, which gave Panama control of the U.S.-built Panama Canal in 1999.

As for Greenland, Trump said the United States needs it for “national security purposes.”

“I’ve been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean people have been talking about it for a long time,” he said.

“You have approximately 45,000 people there. People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security,” he argued.

Trump went on to say that Greenland could serve as a base for America to enhance the security of the entire “free world.”

“You don’t even need binoculars, you look outside, you have China ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen. We’re not letting it happen,” he said.

The president-elect doubted that thrashing the Danes in a military conflict would be necessary because the people of Greenland “are probably going to vote for independence, or to come to the United States” – but he was prepared to “tariff Denmark at a very high level” if necessary.

Trump drew the line at using military force to annex Canada, although he said “economic force” was on the table.

“Canada and the United States, that would really be something,” he mused. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.”

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Washington Post senior political reporter Aaron Blake was apoplectic that Trump would casually threaten using military force against fellow NATO members Greenland and Denmark, pointing out that NATO’s rules would theoretically require the rest of the alliance to come to Greenland’s defense if the United States invaded.

“That’s certainly no small thing, even if it’s just Trump being Trump,” Blake said darkly.

In fairness, Trump urged NATO countries to spend more on their own defense in his Tuesday press conference, so the Danes and Greenlanders have no one to blame but themselves if they are unprepared for the putative U.S. invasion.

Trump recalled raising over $680 billion in NATO funding during his first term by telling members of the alliance: “If you don’t pay, we’re not going to protect you.”

“And as soon as I said that the money came pouring in. But Obama could have said it, other people could have said it, Bush could have said it. Nobody said it but me. I took a lot of heat,” he said.

“They said, oh, that’s a threatening statement. Well, they weren’t paying their bills. I said we’re not going to protect you if you’re not paying the bills. So, in a true sense, I saved NATO, but NATO has taken advantage of us,” he continued.

Trump added that while the target for defense spending by NATO members was two percent during his first administration, he would like to see it raised to five percent on the grounds that “if you’re going to have a country and a regular military, you’re at 4 percent,” and European nations should go a little higher because “they’re in dangerous territory.”

Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha responded to Trump’s press conference by declaring, “The only hands operating the canal are Panamanian, and that is how it’s going to stay.”

“Trump’s opinions today, that he has talked about a certain amount of money, are not true. No kind of offer has been received, let it be clear,” he said on Tuesday.

“Our canal’s sovereignty is not negotiable, and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” he said.