GOP Senators were left bewildered after President-elect Donald Trump delivered a bizarre hour-long rant on Tuesday about annexing Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Two top Senate Republicans voiced their confusion and uncertainty as to what Trump meant when he said he wanted to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal during his press conference.
Since then, Trump made a post on Truth Social showing a map of Canada and the United States overlaid with the American flag with the caption, “Oh Canada!” He made another post with the same map and the words “UNITED STATES” covering both countries.
But his fellow Republicans don’t know what to make of it.
“I expect to hear more about it in the days ahead and, obviously, there are a number of issues that he’s raised that we’ll get a chance to consider,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota.
According to CNNSenate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming wouldn’t answer whether he was concerned about Trump’s decision not to rule out using military force to seize control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
“We’ll see if he brings it up for our discussions tonight,” he said, referring to a Wednesday night meeting between Trump and Senate Republicans to discuss legislative strategy in his second term.
Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich told The Hill that Trump might just be trying to project strength in his pursuit of Greenland, the Panama Canal, and now Canada.
“I think Trump, he’s trying to project a sense of American power and of American engagement. You have all this talk about he’s somehow going to be an isolationist, except he’s deeply engaged in Greenland, he’s deeply engaged [in] a bunch of other things,” he said.
As if annexing Greenland by military force weren’t unsettling enough, Trump has also said he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, praised this idea as “off to a GREAT start!”
Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that the Danish Island is “not for sale,” echoing a similar statement from Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede.
As Trump heads into his meeting, during which he will likely pressure Republican lawmakers to support his far-right agenda, one point of contention remains. Some Republicans are uncertain whether they should support a single omnibus bill—which would make for higher stakes and would be more likely to fail—or convince Trump that it would be in his best interest to break up his “one big, beautiful bill” into smaller pieces of legislation.
I guess we’ll see if he can push them over the edge.
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