Trump lobs global threats and rails against legal cases in wide-ranging remarks

President-elect Donald J. Trump refused to rule out on Tuesday the use of military or economic coercion to force Panama to give up control of the canal that America built more than a century ago, and to force Denmark to sell Greenland to the United States.

In a rambling, hourlong news conference at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump also reiterated his threat that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the hostages being held by Hamas are not released by Inauguration Day, repeating the threat four times.
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In an hourlong news conference, President-elect Donald J. Trump refused to rule out using military force to retake the Panama Canal, which was returned by treaty decades ago, and acquire Greenland, which Mr. Trump said was necessary for U.S. national security. Read more ›

Mr. Trump, speaking from Mar-a-Lago, his private club in South Florida, refused to say whether he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters, and instead pivoted to criticism of the F.B.I. In other comments, he delivered a hodgepodge of grievances and complaints, and repeatedly attacked President Biden, the special counsel Jack Smith and others.

In Florida, the federal judge who handled Mr. Trump’s classified documents case, Aileen M. Cannon, temporarily barred the public release of the special counsel’s final report on the investigation. In New York, an appellate court declined to halt Mr. Trump’s sentencing on his conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.What we're covering
• Wide-ranging remarks: In an over hourlong news conference from Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump said “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if hostages still held in Gaza are not returned by Inauguration Day, and he did not rule out using the military to wrest control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he discussed his second term agenda. He also floated renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

• Trump lambasted his legal cases: Trump railed against the legal cases against him, including the New York hush money sentencing set for Friday and special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into him, calling a judge’s decision to block Smith’s final report “great news.” Trump also said he was “looking at” the possibility of pardoning January 6 rioters charged with violent offenses.

• New era of GOP control: The 119th Congress is ushering a new era of Republican control of both chambers. But Trump’s plan to put his entire agenda into a single, massive bill could face challenges given the narrowly divided Congress. Trump said during the Tuesday news conference that he is open to two bills if it speeds up the process.
President-elect Donald J. Trump refused to rule out on Tuesday the use of military or economic coercion to force Panama to give up control of the canal that America built more than a century ago, and to force Denmark to sell Greenland to the United States.

In a rambling, hourlong news conference at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump also reiterated his threat that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the hostages being held by Hamas are not released by Inauguration Day, repeating the threat four times.