Our next book will look at the 2024 election and its aftermath.
President-elect Trump has big plans to make America greater, in terms of square mileage.
Why it matters: Trump has been in a strikingly imperial mood since his election victory. He has floated acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, and potentially invading Mexico — to the intense consternation of their leaders.In each case, Trump is blending trolling, negotiation and intimidation.
He pitched statehood for Canada at least in part to needle "Governor" Justin Trudeau.
But he has doubled down in the last 48 hours (including via memes) on taking over Greenland and claiming the Panama Canal. It's unclear how exactly either would be accomplished short of an invasion.
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State of play: Greenland's prime minister, Múte Egede, hit back at Trump on Monday: "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom."A day earlier, Trump had labeled taking "ownership" of the world's largest island "an absolute necessity."
People involved in Trump's transition have been discussing how an acquisition or custodianship of Greenland would work, according to Reuters....
Meanwhile, Trump pronounced Saturday that the U.S. would "demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us" if fees for U.S. ships to transit the waterway — which the U.S. returned to Panamanian control beginning in 1977 — were not reduced.Panama President José Raúl Mulino declared in an on-camera address Sunday that Panama would not hand over a single square meter of the canal, to which Trump replied on Truth Social: "We'll see about that!"rump followed up with a picture of an American flag flying over the canal, captioned: "Welcome to the United States Canal!"
