Donald Trump’s recent treatment of the U.S.’s neighbouring countries reflects a new theme that’s defined his mindset as he begins his second presidential term: conquest.
In an equally surprising and unsurprising twist during the leadup to his presidency, Trump began provoking Canadians with repeated jokes about Canada joining the U.S. as the “51st state.” The comments, which Trump has continued spouting over the course of the last three months, have been repeatedly brushed aside by Canadian politicians as playful banter, but Trudeau acknowledged at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit early February in a statement picked up by a hidden microphone that Trump’s threats are “real” and need to be taken seriously.
It’s not hard to see where Trudeau’s concerns are coming from.
Trump has seemingly made it his mission to punish Canada through economic means, with the White House citing “the extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl” supposedly flowing into the U.S. from Canada as the reasons behind Trump’s incoming 25 per cent additional tariffs on the country. Mexico, another longstanding ally of the U.S., finds itself in the same situation for the same reasons.
It’s clear that Trump does not value the relationships with some of his country’s closest allies, and it’s baffling that he would outwardly turn against the U.S.’s closest neighbours and important allies — or is it?
This idea seems to align with the president’s “America First” ideology. Now, let’s be clear: it’s completely reasonable to expect a country’s leader to place their own people at the forefront of political and economic issues, and advocate for their country first and foremost. This should be expected from a leader elected by their own people. What Trump seems to struggle to understand, however, is that this ideology does not have to come at the immediate expense of everyone outside his country, especially those who have been direct allies of the U.S. for decades. Throughout Trump’s political career, he has often prioritized the wishes of America’s richest over the working class, and that seems to once again be the case here. While his protectionist policies from the 2016 administration were no more benevolent than his current actions, his ambitions of neighbourly conquest are new.
It’s also worth mentioning that Canada is not a major factor in the fentanyl crisis present within the U.S. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime states that Canada is very clearly not the illegal drug monopoly that Trump is making it out to be, with under one per cent of the fentanyl entering the U.S. coming from Canada. Canada is not even mentioned as a fentanyl trafficking threat by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in their most recent report.
In fact, it seems that if there is any issue at all with illicit materials moving through the northern border, it’s the other way around. Global Initiative states that far more drugs flow into Canada from its southern neighbour than vice versa, especially methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl. Trump’s aim to make Canada appear like a major drug trafficking threat to the U.S. is indisputably disingenuous, yet his biggest supporters will believe him anyway simply because he’s the one who said it.
So, if Canada doesn’t play a large role in the U.S.’s illegal drug economy, why is Trump pretending that to be the case?
Well, it’s possible Trump simply has his facts wrong and is spewing misinformation as though it were the truth. But what’s more likely is that Trump is voicing a bold-faced lie in an attempt to punish the everyday Canadian for a greater plot: his hope of annexing countries and growing the U.S.’s landmass and population.
If that sounds far-fetched, it’s important to understand that Canadians aren’t alone in this. Trump has shown repeated interest in overtaking the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, home to over 50,000 people who want nothing to do with Trump and his territorial conquest.
He has gone so far as to say he believes the U.S. will “get Greenland,” adding that the residents want to join the U.S.
But remember, when Trump defiantly says something is true, it often means the opposite. Like Canada, Greenland wants nothing to do with it, despite Trump’s claims.
Trump claims that seizing Greenland is an “absolute necessity” for the U.S.’s international security, but this obviously isn’t true. The United States is understood to have the strongest military in the world, and if history has anything to say about it, the U.S. clearly has no problem defending itself against foreign threats. Taking control of Greenland isn’t a tactical move in protecting U.S. territory, it’s simply another scapegoat that Trump is using to justify his actions.
Terrifyingly, Trump has explicitly refused to rule out military force as a potential means of overtaking Greenland and the Panama Canal, another area that Trump has set his sights on. If the ill-tempered and retribution-seeking president eventually decides to use military force to overtake these areas, then he has fully embraced the theme of conquest in his decision-making process — not because the U.S. is at any real risk, but because his egoism trumps everything else, even when it comes at the dismay of those that have always supported his country.
When observing Trump’s clear aim of growing the U.S.’s landmass, it’s hard not to mention the president’s recent announcement that he plans to take control of the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel will hand Gaza over to the U.S. after the conclusion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trump’s comments have drawn rightful criticism that he may be planning the ethnic cleansing of Gazans. United Nations officials have also denounced Trump’s plan to seize Gaza and added that this would be “strictly prohibited.”
Notably, Trump has not stated whether the two million Palestinians who call Gaza home will be permitted to return if his plan comes to fruition. Judging by his “America First (at the expense of literally everyone else)” policy, however, it’s safe to assume that he simply doesn’t care what happens to them. His plan is to throw them out, and whatever happens next to the innocent and war-torn people of Gaza is of no concern to him.
This might seem contradictory to a recent post by Trump on Truth Social that if Gaza is taken by the U.S., “the Palestinians […] would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe and free.” However, given Trump’s track record of telling lies and his lack of specificity on what he would do with the two million displaced people of Gaza, frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Trump’s hope of taking control of Gaza is yet another step in a thread of concerning statements and policies, all of which point to his obsession with territorial expansion by any means possible. While he has repeatedly claimed that U.S. control would be good for the people of the lands he hopes to overtake, it’s quite obvious that he’s only doing this for himself and other American elites. He may not have clear plans on how to get any of this done, but one thing’s for sure: he wants more land, and he wants lots of it.
Even more concerning is that some of Trump’s biggest supporters see eye-to-eye with their master, echoing his conquest-driven ideology in ways more explicit than Trump himself. For a good example, look no further than right-wing commentator and Donald Trump bootlicker Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire, who has made no secret of his desire for conquest at the behest of Trump.
“If we’re acquiring Greenland, we should at least consider also taking Canada. North America should be ours. We could conquer Canada bloodlessly in about a week. Something to think about, folks,” Walsh wrote in a post on X.
Let’s be very clear: when Walsh — a major commentator with a large platform — says that Canada could be conquered “bloodlessly,” it’s more than likely he’s referring to the blood of American people, not Canadians. It’s hard to believe that he gives a damn about what happens to the millions of innocent Canadians on the other side of the border, just trying to live their lives in peace.
It’s worth noting that not every Trump supporter wants to overtake various territories like Walsh. The National Post mentions that there is confusion among many Republicans as to why Trump is picking a fight with America’s closest ally; just because someone voted for Trump doesn’t necessarily mean they support his aim for conquest. Yet ultimately, so long as bloodthirsty schoolyard bullies like Trump are in charge of America, this is of little consequence.
Whether Trump’s conquests will come to pass remains to be seen, but there is growing concern across the world with every additional comment he makes. While many people oppose Trump’s views — from everyday citizens inside and outside the U.S., various political leaders on both sides of the ocean, U.N. officials and even people within Trump’s own party — he’s still the guy sitting in the Oval Office.
At this contentious moment in global history, there’s only one mindset that Canadians should take: remember your sovereignty, be proud of your country and speak out for what you know is right.
The world is better off that way.