US President-elect Donald Trump is showing no sign of letting up in his desire for the country to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, calling both critical to American national security.
Asked by a reporter if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take over the autonomous Danish territory or the Canal, he responded: "No, I can't assure you on either of those two, BBC reported.
"But I can say this, we need them for economic security," Trump told reporters during a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
However, It is not clear how serious he was in his remarks, or if it was some negotiating tactic.
Both Denmark and Panama have rejected any suggestion that they would give up territory.
The president-elect also vowed to use "economic force" when asked if he would attempt to annex Canada and called their shared border an "artificially drawn line".
The boundary is the world's longest between two countries and it was established in treaties dating back to the founding of the US in the late 1700s.
Trump said the US spends billions of dollars protecting Canada, and he criticised imports of Canadian cars, lumber and dairy products.
bd-pratidin/GR
