Republican strategist Lance Trover said on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Greenland and the Panama Canal are strategic moves to curb Chinese influence.
Trump criticized how Panama manages the canal. He proposed that the United States take control of Canada and Greenland. During an appearance on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” Trover said Trump’s remarks about reclaiming control over strategic locations like the Panama Canal, as well as his interests in Greenland, are not idle boasts, but calculated checks against Chinese influence.
“We’re not going to war with Panama or Greenland. I don’t think there’s any invasions happening anytime soon,” Trover told Wolf Blitzer. “I think they’re negotiating tactics. He believes there’s a price issue that’s going on here. ”
Trover said that Trump‘s tactics are misunderstood yet essential.
“There’s one central theme that I hear out of all of this, and that is the Chinese Communist Party because they clearly are taking Panama and Greenland seriously. We know for a fact they do control ports at each end. We know that they have been investing billions and billions of dollars to their belts and roads initiative in Panama. We know that they have tried to buy and build in Greenland,” Trover said.
The GOP strategist also said that what might seem like erratic foreign policy threats are calculated moves to counteract China’s silent but steady encroachment in regions critical to global trade and security.
“So this is really about a national security issue that Donald Trump is talking about, and I think it’s one that we should not just brush away that Democrats like to do when he puts something on social media. Because clearly the Chinese Communist Party is taking these countries seriously. Maybe we should at least take a hard look at what’s going on there as well,” Trover said.
Trump, in a Truth Social post Saturday, demanded the return of the Panama Canal to U.S. control unless Panama ceases its excessive toll charges. He said the canal is significant as a national asset. Trump said the U.S. would reclaim it if Panama fails to honor the spirit of cooperation that marked its original transfer.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNN)
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