WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) 鈥� First it was , then the . Now, again wants .
The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20.
In a Sunday announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote that, 鈥淔or purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."
Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
He's also been suggesting that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister as 鈥済overnor鈥� of the 鈥淕reat State of Canada.鈥�
Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said Trump tweaking friendly countries harkens back to an aggressive style he used during his days in business.
鈥淵ou ask something unreasonable and it鈥檚 more likely you can get something less unreasonable,鈥� said Farnsworth, who is also author of the book 鈥淧residential Communication and Character.鈥�
Greenland, the world鈥檚 largest island, sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is 80% covered by an ice sheet and is home to a large U.S. military base. It gained home rule from Denmark in 1979 and its head of government, M煤te Bourup Egede, suggested that Trump鈥檚 latest calls for U.S. control would be as meaningless as those made in his first term.
鈥淕reenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淲e must not lose our years-long fight for freedom.鈥�
The Danish Prime Minister鈥檚 Office said in its own statement that the government is 鈥渓ooking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.鈥�
鈥淚n a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,鈥� the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland except for it 鈥渘ot being for sale, but open for cooperation.鈥�
Trump after his was rejected by Copenhagen, and ultimately .
He also suggested Sunday that the U.S. is getting 鈥渞ipped off鈥� at the Panama Canal.
鈥淚f the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question,鈥� he said.
Panama President responded in a video that 鈥渆very square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,鈥� but Trump fired back on his social media site, 鈥淲e鈥檒l see about that!鈥�
The president-elect also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, 鈥淲elcome to the United States Canal!鈥�
The United States built the canal in the early 1900s but relinquished control to on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President .
The canal depends on reservoirs that were hit by 2023 droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships, administrators also increased the fees that shippers are charged to reserve slots to use the canal.
The Greenland and Panama flareups followed Trump recently posting that 鈥淐anadians want Canada to become the 51st State" and offering an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag.
Trudeau about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump's threats to impose on all Canadian goods.
鈥淐anada is not going to become part of the United States, but Trump鈥檚 comments are more about leveraging what he says to get concessions from Canada by putting Canada off balance, particularly given the precarious current political environment in Canada,鈥� Farnsworth said. 鈥淢aybe claim a win on trade concessions, a tighter border or other things.鈥�
He said the situation is similar with Greenland.
鈥淲hat Trump wants is a win," Farnsworth said. "And even if the American flag doesn鈥檛 raise over Greenland, Europeans may be more willing to say yes to something else because of the pressure.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Gary Fields in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Will Weissert, The Associated Press
