Trump, The 'America First' Candidate, Has A New Preoccupation: Imperialism; Masculine Energy

AP News, Jan. 9, 2025. Edit.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump ran on a return to his “America First” foreign policy platform. The U.S., he said, could no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. On his watch, he pledged, there would be no new wars. But since winning a second term, the president-elect has been embracing a new imperialist agenda, threatening to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland — perhaps by military force — and saying he will use economic coercion to pressure Canada to become the nation’s 51st state.

“Canada and the United States, that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said of the world’s longest international border and the U.S.'s second-largest trade partner.

Such talk of undermining sovereign borders and using military force against allies and fellow NATO members — even if said lightly — marks a stunning departure from decades-old norms about territorial integrity. And it is rhetoric that analysts say could embolden America’s enemies by suggesting the U.S. is now OK with countries using force to redraw borders at a time when Russia is pressing forward with its invasion of Ukraine and China is threatening Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory..

Manifest Destiny? Trump’s swaggering rhetoric also marks a continuation of the kind of testosterone-heavy energy that was a signature of his campaign, particularly as he worked to win over younger male voters with appearances on popular podcasts.. the resurrection of masculine American energy...

https://apnews.com/article/trump-imperialism-canada-panama-greenland-b4b53445dee97398b498b79eab54d49b