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Why are President Donald Trump and his national security team focused on Panama and Greenland?
Donald Trump understands that modern threats – China’s predatory mercantilism and its massive military buildup, including the ability to destroy our reconnaissance satellites in orbit – requires an urgent reinvigoration of the 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine.
The Monroe Doctrine, America’s fundamental national security imperative, seeks to exclude outside powers from the Western Hemisphere. It is key to protecting the U.S. and our neighbors from China’s malicious designs.
President James Monroe discusses the Monroe Doctrine with his Cabinet, including Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, left. From a painting by Clyde O. DeLand. (Getty Images)
Trump understands that Greenland and Panama aren’t merely the key in any potential conflict with China, they are key to deterring China from conflict in the first place.
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During WWII and the Cold War, prior to the advent of near-global real-time overhead satellite coverage, America maintained forward bases in a string from Hawaii to Alaska to Canada to Greenland to Puerto Rico to Panama. These bases hosted naval assets, electronic listening posts, early warning radars and airfields for patrol aircraft.
The forward presence not only protected the American heartland, but it also served to guard the sea lanes needed for trade and to support our allies in Europe and Asia.
Trump recognizes the shifting geopolitical landscape, with China’s rise posing a new challenge to U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere – and a secure homeland. In 2019, he expressed interest in purchasing Greenland from Denmark, citing its vast natural resources and strategic Arctic location. This is more relevant than ever, with the Northwest Passage becoming increasingly accessible due in part to Russia and China’s rapidly growing heavy icebreaker fleet.
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Similarly, Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are taking significant steps to secure the Panama Canal – with full cooperation from the Panamanian government.
The Panama Canal is a vital artery for global trade and military logistics. But in 1997, just before Britain handed over Hong Kong to China, Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based shipping and logistics firm, bought the concession that privatized operations of the Panama Canal.
When, in 2020, China ended the “one country, two systems” model with Hong Kong, it meant for all intents and purposes that Hutchison Whampoa (now known as CK Hutchison) must do the Chinese Communist Party’s bidding. This greatly increases the risk to the Panama Canal – and it’s why the firm, reacting to pressure from Panama and the U.S., agreed to sell its global assets to an American holding company. That proposed sale was quickly threatened by the Chinese Communist Party, which instituted an “antitrust review.”
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Just to be sure, the Trump White House directed the U.S. military to develop options for increasing troop presence in Panama to ensure “unfettered” access to the canal, reflecting concerns about ongoing Chinese threats to the canal’s operation.
Strategic Importance in a Conflict with China
The strategic importance of Greenland and Panama is heightened in the context of a potential conflict with China, particularly if America’s extensive network of reconnaissance and nuclear missile early warning satellites are destroyed by China in its opening attack. Modern warfare relies heavily on satellite technology for communication, navigation and intelligence gathering.
If these assets are compromised, the U.S. would need to rely on traditional methods, such as long-range patrol aircraft and naval vessels, operating from forward bases. Greenland, with its airfields and ports, provides an ideal location for staging operations in the Arctic, deploying assets like the P-8 Poseidon to monitor submarine activity and secure shipping routes.
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The Panama Canal, meanwhile, ensures rapid deployment of naval forces between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, maintaining flexibility in military operations.
This focus on forward bases aligns with the need to defend the homeland and secure vital shipping lanes critical for global trade and military logistics despite enemy efforts. China’s growing naval capabilities, including advanced submarines and aircraft carriers, necessitate robust strategic positioning to deter potential threats and maintain maritime routes.
Historical Parallels: WWII and Cold War Operations
Historical precedents underscore the importance of forward bases in national defense. During WWII, the U.S. established the Caribbean Defense Command – forerunner to today’s U.S. Southern Command – to protect the Panama Canal and monitor German U-boat activity in the Atlantic. Bases in Trinidad, Brazil and Puerto Rico were instrumental in anti-submarine warfare, ensuring the flow of supplies to Europe and preventing Axis powers from gaining a foothold in the Americas.
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During the Cold War, the U.S. maintained a significant military presence in Latin America to counter Soviet influence. Today, in Cuba, what’s old is new again, as China has occupied and upgraded the massive Cold War-era Soviet eavesdropping base at Lourdes. From that perch, China can listen to every cellphone conversation in the American Southeast.
The Broader Challenge
Beyond Greenland and Panama, China’s activities in the Western Hemisphere, such as its Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects – some serving as replenishment ports for its navy – pose a direct challenge to U.S. interests and regional security. Along with the malevolent presence of Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, and hostile regimes such as Maduro’s Venezuela, Trump’s team has a big task to clean up decades of neglect in the Western Hemisphere.
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