WASHINGTON, January 8. /TASS/. Statements by US President-elect Donald Trump about the need for US control over the Panama Canal and gaining control of Greenland are untimely and counterproductive, they distract attention from other items on his agenda, American political analyst John Kavulich said in a conversation with a TASS correspondent on Tuesday.
"The comments are not productive because they insert additional items on the virtual "to do" list of the Trump and elected Vice President James David] Vance Administration," Kavulich noted.
As the expert added, all statements by President-elect Trump are perceived by members of his future administration, members of Congress, and those who voted for him as "priorities and promises."
"He does not, however, view anything as a promise. Remember that the government of Mexico would pay for the construction of a wall separating the United States-Mexico border. When confronted with the reality of his statement not being true, he simply said "fake news" and moved onward with another explanation," said Kavulich, who is also a research fellow at the think tank Issue Insight.
Trump repeatedly said during his first term that Mexico would pay for the construction of the wall along the U.S. border to stop illegal immigration. The barrier was never completed, and Mexican officials refused to pay for it.
"As President-elect Trump continues to share his very public stream-of-conscience in-real-time thinking about everything, there become political stresses, political stress fractures to his agenda," the expert added. In his opinion, this also makes it difficult for the future US President and his assistants to set priorities.
The expert believes that Trump's statements are "demanding responses from heads of state and heads of government about subjects that are not important today require a reaction from heads of state and government on issues that are not important today."
"They may become important tomorrow, next month, next year, but they are not important today. An unnecessary use of political oxygen," the analysts added.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday, Trump refused to guarantee that he would not use force or economic coercion to resolve the Panama Canal and Greenland issues. He has previously said the U.S. needs to regain control of the Panama Canal and has spoken about annexing Greenland, Denmark’s autonomous region, into American territory.