Trump's Toddler Foreign Policy

"After campaigning on promises to end American entanglements overseas, Donald Trump announced a mere month after winning the 2024 presidential election that the United States' "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for "National Security and Freedom throughout the World." In his inaugural address, weeks later, he delivered acasus belli against Panama, accusing the country of mistreating the United States: "China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back.""

"The buildup to a possible conflict with Venezuela, which has included attacks on boats and a gathering of forces in the Caribbean, is unusual, even surreal, in its lack of a coherent public rationale. Not only has the administration failed to seek authorization for continued operations from Congress-as the Constitution requires for any military action longer than 60 days-it is barely engaging in the kind of jingoistic rhetoric that usually prefigures a conflict."

Donald Trump moved quickly from campaign promises to end overseas entanglements to asserting U.S. ownership and control of Greenland as a national-security necessity and threatening to take back the Panama Canal. His administration has mobilized forces and struck at boats near Venezuela, citing drug interdiction as justification while offering increased rewards for Nicolás Maduro's capture. The buildup lacks a coherent public rationale, has not secured congressional authorization required for prolonged military action, and is accompanied by restrained rhetoric rather than the typical jingoism that precedes conflict.

Read at The Atlantic