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James Ron's avatar

This is a really good piece, well-written and illuminating. I admit I have been confused by Trump's anti-war rhetoric, coupled with his macho neo-imperialist saber rattling around Greenland, Panama, Gaza, Mexico, and so forth. I'm a reasonably sophisticated consumer of political news, but I couldn't figure out how that all fit together logically. You helped clear this question up in my mind and did so in a concise, well-crafted, and eminently readable piece. Thank you for writing.

I have only two (minor) points of contention on issues of fact and evidence:

1. Canada: from what I have read, Trump did publicly rule out the use of force to annex Canada. He pointedly did not do so for Greenland and Panama. Maybe you could fact-check my claim and modify your text ever so slightly if I am correct.

2. Greenland: You may well be right that most residents of Greenland would not want to join the US, but as a former survey analyst, I would plead that you do not cite an interview in the NYT with a single person as evidence for the views of an entire public. I assume someone has already done a nationally representative survey of the Greenland public's views on US annexation, and it would be better to cite that data.

Otherwise, it's a great piece. I'm now a subscriber. Thanks for writing.

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Terentev Valerii's avatar

Trump is waging wars on neighbors for all reasons:

- distract attention from Hegseth, Tulsi, RFKj, Kash

- destroy the NATO alliance from within

- give Putin and Xi excuses to annex other nations

- make a Martial law in order to gain extra powers to destroy elections and democracies in the USA and everywhere.

All at once

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Stephanie Hobbs's avatar

So much money in war, for the right people. Like his billionaire boys club buddies. And yes, now the firehose of lies opens up, no one can keep track of his perfidy. ##TrumpLiesAboutEverything

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Mr Mild - BlueVotingBastard💙's avatar

The US has a base in Thule, Greenland, that houses an early warning Radar system, it’s been up there for decades.

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Mike_Cramer's avatar

The side of the political spectrum that glorifies weapon ownership and deifies “the troops” is “anti-war?”

Yeah, right.

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Pere Ubu's avatar

Motherfucker almost got us in a shooting war with Iran by killing their top general (and then violated military security with pictures of the neat cool booms he made to do it). And the Pentagon budget is closing in on $1 TRILLION A YEAR so fucking miss me with that "helping Americans" bullshit. If you're not a CEO or you haven't been killed by an Untermenschen he doesn't want to hear your name.

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Regret's avatar

Typo: "...these people will show us that they only problem they actually had..." should be "...these people will show us that the only problem they actually had..."

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Bitter Scribe's avatar

I still think this is all trolling, because that's all they know how to do and it's all they think there is to governing.

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Bitter Scribe's avatar

“And after eighteen months of Presidency he was angry that Mexico, Canada and South America (obviously his own property by Manifest Destiny) should curtly answer his curt diplomatic notes and show no helplessness about becoming his inevitable empire."

--Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here"

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Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Robyn. Anyone who believes and/or repeats a word these thugs say is A Idiot or complicit.

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Michael Bowen's avatar

And those guys who showed up for Donald the Lesser in Greenland - they were there for a free lunch.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-jr-greenland-visit-supporters-b2676937.html

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eddi-SABH's avatar

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp313e41jy1o Danes struggle with response to Trump Greenland threat

I understand the issue of tariff threats but Denmark's response should be "Shove it up your wazoo with a hydraulic ram!" Defy him. Then sanction every Republican that backs him. And promise to arrest him if he sets foot in Danish territory.

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DemoCat's avatar

Great article.

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Hank Napkin's avatar

There is, of course, an American Tradition of Manifesting some Destiny upon Indigenous Peoples. In this sense, Sir is a strict traditionalist. And Sir is ready to achieve Sir's aims without violence by simply blanketing the island with freshly mutated coronavirus strains like you've never seen before.

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Hank Napkin's avatar

Can barely wait to hear the new name for Baffin Bay!

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Skunk Formerly Known As Stoner's avatar

Another part of our constitution we’ve apparently forgotten entirely about is that it requires 2/3 of Congress to declare war.

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