United States of America (USA) is the geographically fourth largest state of the world yet if we merge Canada with the USA the total area will become 182, 41,100 Kilometer square and in case Greenland is also linked with the USA, it will become 2,04,0,186 kilometer square, This geographical changes will make the USA the largest state, covering around 13.7% of the total land area of the world. This is not a pipe dream but the newly elected President of the USA Donald Trump has expressed his will to make this plan realistic. Furthermore, he not only talked about Greenland and Canada but he also wanted to take the Panama Canal under the umbrella of the USA. In addition, Trump also considered the option of the military to attain its goal. A major question that arises here is, what is the force of derivation and historical context behind this motive of the United States?
Trumps Vision for Canada: Trade, defense, and integration
According to Trump, “Canada should be the 51st state of USA” Moreover, he sometimes also labeled President Justin Trudeau “Governor” of Canada. Contemporarily among Canadian people, a considerable separatist movement is absent. In addition, the President and opposition leader of Canada both denied the idea of Canada joining the USA. A survey poll in Canada showed that around 86% of Canadians opposed the idea of becoming a state of the USA.
According to many think thanks the idea of Donald Trump is far-fetched. Their belief of Trump is based on trade deficiency as according to him, the USA subsidised Canada due to which the trade deficit between the two states is more than 200 Billion Dollars. However, even this stance of Trump is valid as in 2023 USA exported around $355 billion in products to Canada and Canada exported $427 billion to Canada so the deficient in this case is around $72 billion, but it will also include the service sector is this calculation the USA exported around $86 Billion whereas Canada exported around $54 billion services to Canada in this case the surplus for the USA is $32 Billion. In some of the statements of President Trump, he also mentioned, “we don’t want anything that they have” but the reality is far different as the USA’s oil refineries are made to purify heavy crude oil, and almost 60% of USA’s crude oil imports are Canada based. The USA is not only in trade deficit with Canada but also with China, Japan, and Mexico and this deficit is not due to the subsidies of the USA but due to the currency, the Dollar is a reserve currency and is strong which makes American exports expensive and imports cheap.
A survey poll in Canada showed that around 86% of Canadians opposed the idea of becoming a state of the USA
In this context, Trump has also shown his will to impose economic forces by imposing protectionist measures he pledged to impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada. The second concern of Trump in this regard is Canada’s defense spending, as Canada is spending 1% of its GDP on budget but according to NATO, it should be 2%. Trump told reporters on thursday that “they pay less than 1%, they are among the lowest payers in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NATO. They are supposed to pay much more. They haven’t been paying” but this claim of Donald Trump is also not true as in 2024 Canada spent around 1.37% of GDP on defense. According to Donald Trump if Canada joins with the USA the threat from Canada’s threat from China and Russia will decrease. But still in this case Canada does not have direct issues with both China and Russia and even no ships have not been deployed on Canadian borders by any of these states.
Strategic Value of Greenland for the USA
As far as Greenland is concerned it operates as an autonomous region of Denmark and is the largest island on the planet. More than 80% of this island is covered with ice most of its part come under the Arctic region which makes the area strategically and economically important. Specifically due to global warming new sea routes will emerge through the island such as the northern sea route and the western passage will become completely accessible. In addition, the extraction of millions of Dollars in lithium and graphite will become easy these minerals are present in large quantities in the area. These minerals are used in making electronic vehicles (EVs) in China is currently the dominant industry US would need such minerals to beat China in this field. If we consider the location through the lens of security Greenland is also holding a prominent position in the region. It is close to Russia which makes the position more attractive for the USA.
Even centuries ago, the USA wanted to take over this area 18th century when the US gained Alaska, after World War II the US even offered Denmark to sell Greenland. Unlike Canada, Greenland has some revolutionary sentiments. Trump may use these sentiments to get control over Greenland. The USA deployed its military bases in WWII and in the cold war also contemporarily still some of the bases are still present in Greenland. The governments of Denmark and Greenland are foreseeing more military collaborations with the USA but are not willing to hand over the island. The use of force by the USA to take control of Greenland may hinder its relationship with all the NATO countries specifically with Denmark.
The USA has a long history of interference and has military bases all over the world. In addition to this Trump is also taking into consideration the use of military tactics to get control of Canada and Greenland. However, this is a difficult objective to attain but during the Trump 2.0, a tug of war will definitely be going on in these arenas of geopolitics.