There's a "coherent connective tissue" to President-elect Donald Trump's comments on Greenland, Canada, and Panama, a Trump transition official told The Washington Post on Saturday.

Another spoke about Trump's goals. "Trump knows what levers to pull and what guardrails there are and he's in a position of power to utilize those levers. This isn't just slapdash," Trump transition spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in an interview.

Trump last week renewed calls made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20.

He's also suggested that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and said the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The spokeperson told the news outlet that world leaders "are flocking to the table because President Trump is already delivering on his promise to make America strong again.

"When he officially takes office, foreign nations will think twice before ripping off our country, America will be respected again, and the whole world will be safer."

Trump has said "for purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

The Trump transition official who spoke with the Post said his comments tie into an overarching mission of countering Russia and China. Trump, though, has not made that argument.

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