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Trump says he wants to rename Gulf of Mexico and retake Panama Canal during press conference: Live

President-elect held baffling — at times alarming — press event at Mar-a-Lago, wandering from topic to topic and threatening allied nations

Oliver O'Connell,Joe Sommerlad,Katie Hawkinson
Wednesday 08 January 2025 01:38 GMT
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Trump says he won’t ‘commit’ to ruling out military force to reclaim Panama Canal

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Donald Trump gave a bizarre, rambling press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, bafflingly leaping from one topic to another.

Ostensibly arranged to announce new foreign investment in the US, the president-elect also attacked President Joe Biden over the transition process and refused to rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.

Trump further railed against windmills, electric heaters, water pressure and soap, Canada, dishwashers, and the legal cases against him. At one moment he said he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and then claimed Hezbollah might have been at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Meanwhile, his lawyers are attempting to block the “imminent” release of a final report by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith covering his classified documents and election interference cases. Aileen Cannon, the judge in the former case, has temporarily blocked the release of that final report.

Further, Judge Juan Merchan refused Trump’s latest attempt to delay the sentencing over his hush money conviction — still scheduled for Friday.

This all came just a day after Congress formally recognized the president-elect’s 2024 election win over Kamala Harris.

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