Trump vows again to take Panama Canal, Greenland

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his pledge to take both the Panama Canal and Greenland.

"To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we have already started doing it," Trump said during his address to a joint session of Congress.

He once again blamed the late US President Jimmy Carter for signing a treaty with Panama in the 1970s, handing the authority to run the vital waterway to the country.

On Greenland, Trump said his administration would "strongly support" Greenlanders' "right to determine" their own future.

"And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America," Trump said. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we are working with everybody involved to try and get it," Trump said. "And I think we are going to get it one way or the other ... It is a very small population, but very, very large piece of land and very, very important for military security."

Greenland, the world's largest island with a population of around 60,000, was a Danish colony until 1953, when it became an integral part of Denmark with Greenlanders given Danish citizenship. In 1979, Greenland achieved home rule, gaining greater self-governance while Denmark retained authority over its foreign and defense policy.

This is not the first time Trump talked about taking over Greeland. Denmark has rejected the idea, saying the island is not up for sale.