<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> President-elect </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> has said he would not rule out the use of </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/military" rel="" target="" title="military"><span>military</span></a><span> force to seize control of the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/panama" rel="" target="" title="Panama"><span>Panama</span></a><span> Canal and Greenland, as he declared US control of both to be vital to American national security.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (early Wednesday AEDT) less than two weeks before he takes office on January 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes his son Donald Trump Jr is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm not going to commit to that," he said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/facebook-instagram-meta-getting-rid-of-fact-checkers-mark-zuckerberg-acknowledges-more-harmful-content-will-appear/b4f55c89-ec65-46c0-a511-33d519a65a51"><strong><span>Facebook ditches fact checkers after 'too much political bias'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It might be that you'll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He added, "we need Greenland for national security purposes".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and a founding member of NATO.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-update-us-president-elect-refuses-to-rule-out-use-of-military-force-to-take-control-of-greenland-and-the-panama-canal/562ef7a0-556c-4240-9200-0a6efe0578e7" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump, a Republican, has floated having Canada join the United States. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said he would not use military force to do that, saying, he would rely on "economic force".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also complained President Joe Biden was undermining his transition to power a day after the incumbent moved to ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/western-australia-esperance-drowning-olya-tikhanova/3f4b2e05-d5b2-4f15-84e9-5fcb004709d6"><strong><span>Mum who fled Ukraine for new life in Australia dies in beach tragedy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, used his authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska's Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All told, about 253 million hectares of federal waters were withdrawn from energy exploration by Biden in a move that may require an act of Congress to undo.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm going to put it back on day one," Trump told reporters at his private club in Florida. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He pledged to take it to the courts "if we need to".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/rottnest-island-search-underway-after-sea-plane-crashes/008fd6be-04ec-4876-a080-dc7fae750deb"><strong><span>'Deeply concerning' scenes as sea plane crashes</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said Biden's effort — part of a series of final actions in office by the Democrat's administration — was undermining his plans for once he's in office.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You know, they told me that, we're going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth," Trump said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's not smooth."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Biden's team has extended access and courtesies to the Trump team that the Republican former president initially denied Biden after his 2020 election victory. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/temu-hoodie-recall-fire-risk/b1a89052-ad8b-4c53-8532-4023d5666588" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>'Skin just falling off': Girl horrifically burnt by jumper</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios in an interview published Monday that Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients had been "has been very helpful".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In extended remarks, Trump also railed against the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw now-dropped prosecutions over his role in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and possession of of classified documents after he left office in 2021. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Justice Department is expected to soon release a report from Smith summarising his investigation after the criminal cases were forced to an end by Trump's victory in November.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also said he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America", saying that has a "beautiful ring to it".</span></div></div>

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