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How Donald Trump plans to build a new American empire

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Donald Trump‘s attempts to bring Greenland, the Panama Canal and even Canada under American rule are part of his plans for a new US empire, experts say.

The president-elect has stated his intentions for aggressive foreign policy upon returning to the White House which include tariffs on both Canadaand Mexico.

Those aren’t his only plans for our neighbors to the north, as Trump has repeatedly made posts on social media suggesting Canada become America’s ’51st state.’

He’s also reignited his desire for the United States to purchase Greenland and even take back control of the Panama Canal once in office.

‘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 spokesperson Anna Kelly told Newsweek in a statement.

Professor Sean Adams, an expert on American history at the University of Florida, said that Trump’s plans harken back to the ideas of Democrats from 200 years ago, especially Andrew Jackson, a known favorite president of Trump.

‘The plan to acquire Greenland does offer a bit of a throwback to the 19th century when many American politicians – particularly Democrats – were quite aggressive about territorial expansion,’ he said.

He adds that this policy was known as ‘spread-eagleism’ and an ideology meant to expanding the US style of governance across the world, as the US bought parts of Mexico, Alaska and attempted to annex now known as the Dominican Republic, in addition to Greenland and Iceland.

‘The idea was [that] the Republican government was America’s gift to the world, and it needed to be extended as much as possible. The economic opportunities that came along with expansion was a nice bonus as well.’

Donald Trump ‘s attempts to bring Greenland, the Panama Canal and even Canada under American rule are part of his plans for a new US empire, experts say

 

The president-elect has stated his intentions for aggressive foreign policy upon returning to the White House which include tariffs on both Canada and Mexico, as well as Trump repeatedly posting on social media suggesting Canada become America’s ’51st state.’

 

Adams calls the Jackson-inspired imperialism ‘a dramatic departure’ from the current establishment.

Daniel Immerwahr, a professor at Northwestern and an expert in American imperialism, says that while Trump’s plans are a break from the current mold, it may not resemble colonialism of the past.

‘It would not be a stretch to see the United States’s hundreds of military bases outside of its borders as a type of empire…But Trump is clearly more comfortable with an older form of power projection that harks back to the bloody days of Teddy Roosevelt,’ he said.

In late November, Trump announced plans to slap a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods as long as the countries allowed immigrants to flow over the U.S. border.

He also said he’d impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods over the Chinese government’s refusal to make good on a promise to use the death penalty on drug dealers.

These actions, Trump said, would take place on the first day of his administration.

He said the Mexican and Canadian tariffs would apply to  ‘ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.’

‘This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!’

Trump has also reignited his desire for the United States to purchase Greenland

 

He’s even suggesting the US take back control to purchase the Panama Canal once in office

 

The president-elect also suggested that Mexicoand Canada had ‘the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem’ – indicating he wanted the neighbors to do more to patrol their borders so migrants couldn’t sneak into the United States.

The president-elect has in recent days suggested a territorial expansion into Canada, Greenland and Panama, and has mocked prime minister Justin Trudeau by calling him ‘governor.’

On Christmas, Trump escalated his campaigns against the governments of both Panama and Canada.

‘Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything,”‘ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.

‘Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World.

‘Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!’

Trump recently posted that ‘Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State’ and offered an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag.

Trudeau has suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump’s tariff threats.

Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, during his first presidential term.

On Christmas , Trump escalated his campaigns against the governments of both Panama and Canada

 

How Donald Trump plans to build a new American empire

 

Trump recently posted that ‘Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State’ and offered an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag

 

He was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities – who reiterated the island was ‘open for business, not for sale’ – before any conversations could take place.

The Danish Prime Minister’s Office said in its own statement that the government is ‘looking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.’

‘In a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,’ the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland except for it “not being for sale, but open for cooperation.’

Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the US 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.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that ‘every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,’ but Trump fired back on his social media site, ‘We’ll see about that!’

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US will stay in NATO, but it must be ‘stronger’, Marco Rubio tells his 31 counterparts

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Rubio at NATO © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reassured NATO allies of the US’ commitment to the military transatlantic alliance at his first meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers, while recalling Donald Trump’s message that the European countries and Canada need to further increase defence spending.

“The United States President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO, we’re going to remain in NATO,” Rubio told reporters in Brussels, stressing that the US wants the alliance to be stronger against any potential threat.

“The only way NATO can get stronger and more viable is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability,” he added.

The top US diplomat said he expects to leave Brussels with a clear commitment from allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defence—an increase from the current 2%, which some European countries, such as Belgium, Italy, and Spain, still fail to meet.

“I understand there’s domestic politics after decades of building up vast social safety net that maybe don’t want to take away from that and invest more in national security, but a full-scale ground war in the heart of Europe is a reminder that hard power is still necessary as a deterrent,” he said.

Rubio’s comments come after Donald Trump said last month that the US would not defend its allies unless they increased burden-sharing within the alliance. “It’s common sense, right,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in early March. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.”

The transatlantic alliance is currently assessing its capability gaps before committing to a new defence spending target, but a final figure is not expected until the annual NATO summit in June in The Hague.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that European NATO members have recently committed to the largest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, though he agreed with the US that more must be done.

“It’s my assumption that what we need to spend, the Canadians and Europeans together, will be north of 3%,” the former Dutch prime minister said on his way in to the two-day meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

Rubio stressed that raising defence spending to 5% cannot be done “in one year or two”, but the US now demands a real way forward from its allies to build a stronger NATO capable of defending its territories.

The NATO chief also warned that the global security threats facing the Alliance are increasingly interconnected and that the Russian threat will persist for many years.

“We are seeing what China is doing. We’re seeing how these two theatres, the inner Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic are getting more and more connected by the fact that the Russians are working together with the North Koreans, with the Chinese, with Iran, so we have to look at all these theatres in conjunction and that will be our focus,” he said.

European NATO members are also expecting clear messages or a roadmap from Rubio regarding the US withdrawal of troops from Europe, where around 100,000 American soldiers are stationed. However, the US secretary of state has not yet addressed the issue, and Rutte indicated that no immediate drawdown is planned.

“There are no plans for them (the US) to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe, but we know that for America being the superpower they are they have to attend to more theatres than one,” Rutte said.

Some NATO members consider that the US could reduce its presence by some 20,000 to 50,000 troops.

The NATO secretary general acknowledged that the US has long sought to pivot its attention toward the Indo-Pacific but assured that it will be done “in a very coordinated manner.”

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Security: Abia govt to keep close watch on traditional rulers, confirms kidnap victim’s release

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Abia State government has again, warned traditional rulers in the state against harbouring criminals in their communities, saying that they would be placed under watch.

The warning was sounded at Government House Umuahia by the Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, on Wednesday, while briefing Journalists on the outcome of this week’s executive council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

The State government also cautioned town union leaders to be vigilant and report all cases of suspicious movements involving criminal elements in their areas to security agents.

The Commissioner who disclosed that a popular businessman who was kidnapped in Ukwa East LGA a few weeks ago has been released, said that the State government would be using security agencies to beam light on all traditional rulers, to ascertain those who harbour criminals in their domains.

“As is usual with security matters, I may not want to go into details of what happened to the businessman, but the state government is advising Abians to remain vigilant. Town unions and traditional rulers must be alive to their duties of keeping watch over their domains.

“The state government is frowning seriously at this and the warning is that if you are caught in the act of harbouring criminals, you will be treated as one”, said Kanu.

He advised all commercial vehicle operators who have registered their vehicles in the ongoing registration policy to do so as strict enforcement of the initiative would soon start.

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Recall: INEC declares petition against Natasha inadequate

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Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
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ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on Thursday said the petition to recall the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has not met the requirements of the constitution.

INEC in a tweet on its ‘X’ handle said; “The petition for the recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.

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