Meloni on Trump’s statements regarding Greenland and Panama: A message to the big players

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ruled out that US President-elect Donald Trump would actually intend to use military force to control Greenland or the Panama Canal, saying that his comments were a warning to China and other global players not to interfere in these important strategic interests.

“I think it can be ruled out that in the coming years the United States will seek to use force to annex territories that are important to it,” said Meloni, who traveled last week to Mar-a-Lago and plans to attend Trump’s inauguration.

She explained that she sees Trump’s statements as “a message to some major global players more than any hostile claim towards these countries.”

She added that she believes that the statements came due to the “increasing Chinese role” in the commercially important Panama Canal and resource-rich Greenland, and she interpreted Trump’s words as part of a “remote debate between the major powers.”