WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump discussed a slew of topics in a press conference on Tuesday -- the first since his election win was officially certified by U.S. Congress.
In wide-ranging remarks, Trump outlined a laundry list of pro-MAGA -- "Make America Great Again" -- initiatives he pledged to push through after taking office later this month.
Here is a recap of the highlights of his statements and reactions from the parties involved.
ON PANAMA CANAL, GREENLAND
Since his win in November last year, Trump has repeatedly mentioned the possibility of gaining control of the Panama Canal -- a major shipping route dug through Panama -- and purchasing Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
At the press conference, he declined to rule out military or economic action as he declared U.S. control of both vital to U.S. national security.
"We need them for economic security ... the Panama Canal was built for our military," he said. Asked if he would rule out the use of military force, he said: "I'm not going to commit to that ... We need Greenland for national security purposes."
In response, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that Greenland is not for sale, stating that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders."
In an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, she said she did not believe that the United States will use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.
Panama's Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha told reporters on Tuesday that the country would never surrender the Panama Canal to any country.
"The sovereignty of our canal is nonnegotiable and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest," he said. "The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and will remain so."
ON GULF OF MEXICO
Trump said he would try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," a name he said has a "beautiful ring to it."
"We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory," he said. "The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate."
He also accused Mexico of allowing "millions of people" and "record numbers of drugs" into the United States and threatened to impose "substantial" tariffs on Mexico and Canada, "because Canada, they come through Canada too."
In November last year, Trump threatened to "charge" Mexico and Canada a 25-percent tariff on all products coming into the United States until drugs and "all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!"
In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the president-elect that "neither threats nor tariffs will solve the issue of migration or drug consumption."
"Imposing one tariff would mean another comes in response, continuing like this until we put shared companies at risk," she said.
ON JAN. 6 PROTESTERS
At the press conference, Trump once again hinted that he would offer pardons to some of his supporters who are serving prison time for assaulting police officers during the attack on the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Well, we're looking at it," he said when asked whether he was considering pardoning people charged with violent offenses. "We'll be looking at the whole thing, but I'll be making major pardons."
When a reporter asked if he would pardon anyone who attacked a police officer, Trump deflected, suggesting that one of his supporters was the only victim of the attacks.
"Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashli Babbitt," he said, saying that she was "shot for no reason whatsoever."
After his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Trump claimed there was widespread voter fraud. A large group of his supporters stormed the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, causing five deaths, hundreds of police officers injured, and millions of dollars in property damage.
Prosecutors have charged more than 1,500 defendants with crimes tied to the riot, including more than 170 who are accused of using deadly or dangerous weapons like fire extinguishers and bear spray against officers, The Hill reported.
ON NATO DEFENSE SPENDING
Trump again urged members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to increase their military spending, suggesting that each country allocate at least 5 percent of its GDP to defense expenditures, up from the current 2 percent.
"I think NATO should have 5 percent ... Well, you can't do it ... at 2 percent every country if you're going to have a country and a regular military, you're at 4 percent I think they should be, you know, they're in dangerous territory. They can all afford it, but they should be at 5 percent, not 2 percent," he said.
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO allies for failing to meet the alliance's defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP, a benchmark agreed upon by member states, and claimed that the United States was shouldering an unfair portion of the financial burden.
During his last presidency, he called for an increase in NATO allies' defense spending, urging NATO countries to meet or exceed the 2 percent target and suggested that the United States might reconsider its involvement in the alliance if others didn't contribute more.
NATO allies are already in discussions about increasing the target to 3 percent at the meeting of leaders in June last year, but many capitals are concerned about the difficult fiscal decisions that would be required to do so, according to a report by the Financial Times.
ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT
Trump expressed sympathy with Russia's stance that Ukraine should not join NATO and regretted that he would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before his inauguration.
"Russia, for many, many years, long before Putin, said, 'You could never have NATO involved with Ukraine.' And somewhere along the line Biden said, 'No. They should be able to join NATO.' Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feelings about that," he said.
When asked if he could solve the war within half a year, he said "I hope to have six months. No, I would think, I hope long before six months ... Look, Russia is losing a lot of young people, and so is Ukraine, and it should have never been started."
He also complained that he could not meet with Putin until after he takes office on Jan. 20, saying, "I know that Putin would like to meet ... I don't think it's appropriate that I meet until after the 20th."
During the presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the war would have never started had he won the 2020 election, and has boasted of being able to end the war "in 24 hours" without giving further details on his plan. ■