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Page 12 of 496
No. 088
Filed FEBRUARY 4, 2025
Foreign Policy
Second Term

Trump Pledges American Takeover Of Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal, And Gaza Strip Within Two-Week Window, Citing Long-Standing American Interest In Land Currently Belonging To Other Countries

The Filing

WASHINGTON. Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room Tuesday, President Donald Trump completed his unprecedented two-week sweep of expansionist territorial demands by declaring that the United States would "take over" the Gaza Strip, restoring the long-dormant American practice of acquiring real estate by announcing it on television.

The Gaza statement, in which the President pledged to relocate roughly two million Palestinians and personally redevelop the coastal territory, joined a series of recent claims that have included refusing to rule out military force against Greenland, threatening to retake the Panama Canal, and repeatedly insisting that Canada become America's 51st state. Asked Tuesday whether he would clarify which of the four territories he intended to invade first, the President said he was looking at all of them.

Sources within the administration confirmed that the territorial portfolio had been assembled over the prior month using a combination of historical maps, reports from Donald Trump Jr.'s January visit to Nuuk, and a globe in the Oval Office that the President has reportedly been spinning during meetings. Officials said the Gaza addition was finalized after a Friday meeting in which the President asked aides whether the United States already owned it, and was informed that it did not.

The President declined to specify which mechanism, treaty, or armed branch would be used to consummate any of the four acquisitions. A senior administration official, speaking on background, said legal review of any one of the four had not yet been requested, and that the working assumption was that the law would catch up.

Reaction from the four targeted nations was immediate. Denmark declared Greenland not for sale; Panama affirmed canal sovereignty; outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated his country would never become a U.S. state; and Egypt and Jordan rejected the proposed Palestinian relocation. Allied governments throughout NATO privately expressed concerns to U.S. officials that the foreign-policy methodology of the President of the United States was now operationally indistinguishable from a man pointing at countries on a placemat.

At press time, the President had instructed aides to prepare contingency briefings on whether Mexico, Belize, and the moon were also unfairly held by other entities.

Sourced to the public record · presented without editorial embellishment
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