Trump threatens Greenland, Panama and Canada, should we take him seriously? | Donald Trump

Merry Christmas, Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Christmas Day with a photo of him and his wife, Melania. So far, it's so traditional. But the US president-elect was only just getting started.

In another message, Trump wished everyone a Merry Christmas, including the wonderful Chinese soldiers who lovingly but illegally operate the Panama Canal. He mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and claimed the United States could annex Canada and make it its 51st state. For good measure, he spoke to the people of Greenland, who the United States needs for national security purposes and who want the United States to be there, and we will!

It was the kind of rant that, if uttered by a drunken uncle at the Christmas dinner table, might be ridiculed or undermined by Someone for Dessert? But Trump, 78, is less than a month away from accessing the nuclear codes and commanding the world's most powerful military. No one really knows whether to take it literally or seriously, or both.

Notoriously mercurial and fanciful, he is the man who, it was once said, does not play three-dimensional chess but more often than not just eats the pieces. There are also suspicions that Trump is seeking leverage through the art of the deal and that the former reality TV star is making headlines to appear strong at home and abroad.

Reed Galen, president of JoinTheUnion.us, a pro-democracy coalition, said: These guys have been trolls for almost 80 years. The problem is that he now happens to be a troll who is about to rule, once again, the most powerful nation humanity has ever known. He wants to do this because he wants outrage. He wants, to the extent that he thinks he can provoke him, to be afraid or panic. Chaos is the currency of his kingdom and it always will be because things out of control are the only way he can be in control.

The idea of ​​buying Greenland is not new to Trump. When he first raised the prospect of buying the vast strategic island, a Danish territory, during his first term in 2019, it was largely treated as a joke. But Trump then canceled a trip to Denmark after his prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, rejected him.

Trump revived his efforts last weekend by appointing his ambassador to Copenhagen, saying ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity for U.S. national security. But he received the same response: Greenland's Prime Minister, Mte Egede, said on Monday that the resource-rich island was not for sale.

At first glance, this all looks like political theater of the absurd. But Trump, the disruptor in chief, has made a habit of turning the unthinkable into the thinkable and the inevitable.

Galen said: We should take it seriously. If he shows up in Copenhagen with a check for $1 trillion for Greenland, maybe the Danes will accept it, I don't know. But also remember that this is a guy who has never actually paid for anything in his life, so every time he says, I want to buy it, that's not how it works .

Meanwhile, the president-elect is also going after Panama. He condemned what he called unfair fees for passing American ships and threatened to demand that control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington.

Trump said last Sunday that if Panama did not agree, we would demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States in its entirety, quickly and without question. He also alluded to China's growing influence around the canal, built by the United States in 1914 to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was returned to Panama under a 1977 agreement.

Panama's President Jos Ral Mulino rejected Trump's threats, saying every square meter of the canal would remain in Panamanian hands. Trump responded on Truth Social: Well, look at that!

As if two diplomatic spats weren't enough, Trump repeatedly teased neighboring Canada that it would be a great idea to become America's 51st state amid bleak threats of tariffs. He also referred to Trudeau as governor, a title used by the highest elected officials in each of the 50 US states.

Canada sought to turn the other cheek. In an interview with the Politicos Playbook Deep Dive podcast, Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, said: I think the president-elect is having a little fun. Canada can take it. You know, we have a strong sense of who we are and we can convey that.

Large icebergs move away as the sun rises near Kulusuk in Greenland. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

Indeed, Trump made many ill-considered statements during his first term in the White House that went nowhere, including bombing hurricanes to prevent them from hitting the United States and suggesting the injection of bleach to cure Covid. The second time, however, the feeling is different. Nicknamed American Caesar, Trump seems bolder, better organized and more intentional.

He now understands where the levers of power and pressure points are and is surrounded by more docile loyalists. While his first approach to Greenland was based on a real estate developer's instincts, this time he invokes national security concerns as a sales pitch likely to resonate more on Capitol Hill.

Few experts expect him to declare war on Canada, Denmark or Panama, but they see a combination of bluff and intimidation aimed at unbalancing the allies and securing smaller victories. The harsh treatment contrasts sharply with Trump's repeated praise of leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in 2022 as part of his own land grab.

For some, this is horribly reminiscent of the great imperialist game of the 19th century. Brett Bruen, former director of global engagement in Barack Obama's White House, said: “It is astonishing that in the 21st century we are still talking about global powers trying to take, whether by force or pressure, territories to other countries. We have the example of Putin trying to take back Ukraine. We have the example of China trying to take over large areas of the South China Sea.

Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room public affairs agency, added: Now we have Trump, who is essentially trying to force Greenland and Panama to cede territory against their will, which violates every fundamental principle of law. international and international stability. .

This opens a Pandora's box of crises that probably could not be contained, because if Trump can threaten other countries' borders, then [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan [of Turkey] and Mohammed bin Salman [of Saudi Arabia] and a whole host of other unsavory leaders will do the same.

Trump's sabre-rattling in Panama and reported plans for a soft invasion of Mexico, targeting drug cartels through cross-border special forces operations or drone strikes, are likely to stir up bad memories of United States among Latin American leaders and could push some towards China. to kiss.

In 1973, for example, the United States staged a coup against then-Chilean President Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who was indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges. President George HW Bush told the nation his goals were to protect American lives, restore democracy, bring Noriega to justice, and ensure the integrity of the Panama Canal treaties before Panama took full control in 1999.

Trump's sudden expansionism is doubly strange because he has sharply criticized America's past misadventures abroad. He won a series of postponements during the Vietnam War, denounced George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, and bragged about not dragging the United States into new wars during his presidency . His “America First” policy advocates isolationism, not foreign entanglements.

But for Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, there are echoes of President Richard Nixon's fool theory, which embraces irrationality to keep adversaries in line. uncertainty and defensiveness.

He makes a series of outrageous and impossible threats, Jacobs said. Were we going to buy Greenland? It's not for sale, it's a sovereign country, it's just ridiculous. What he did with Canada is in a country similar to that of the imagination. The Panama Canal? This has been settled for decades now. But in his mind, it's just a tactic to disrupt the status quo and improve his White House's negotiating position.

While Joe Biden is quickly becoming the ghost of Christmases past, Trump is the ghost of Christmases future for the next four years. Jacobs warned: It's an appetizer before the main course with Trump. It will be the presidency again. It's about chaos. It's about unpredictability. This is kind of a crazy approach to the most powerful office on planet Earth. It's terrifying.

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