Soon after, Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, where he said something new and unexpected about one of his territorial targets. NBC News reported:

During a free-wheeling news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump was asked by a reporter if he could assure the public that he would not use military coercion against Panama or Greenland, a goal he has floated in recent weeks. ‘No, I can’t assure you on either of those two, but I can say this, we need them for economic security,’ Trump said.

While Greenland is currently a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republican went on to tell reporters that he’s skeptical of the geopolitical relationship. “People really don’t even know that Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security,” the president-elect added.....

While I’m mindful of the fact that the Republican is full of bluster and nonsense on a nearly daily basis, and it’s generally wise not to invest too much energy into any one comment, Trump’s yearslong fixation on Greenland is quickly evolving past the point of silly tweets. As The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake summarized:

He just left open using a military threat against a NATO ally. ... And NATO rules require an attack on any member to be treated as an attack on them all. That’s certainly no small thing, even if it’s just Trump being Trump.[/blockquote]

The rhetoric, Blake added, was “the latest ratcheting up of Trump’s increasingly imperialistic entreaties.”.....

But those who want to see Trump as a champion of peace really ought to know better by now. The charade has unraveled. A leader willing to make veiled threats at a NATO ally as part of a wildly unnecessary imperialistic pursuit is not a leader who can be counted on for responsible restraint on matters of foreign policy.