Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | Trump’s words: Rhetoric runneth over?
Summary
- The US President-elect reiterated a desire to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. He also warned Hamas of ‘hell’ breaking loose if the hostages it has taken aren’t released by 20 January. Just rhetoric?
US President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech on Tuesday explains why the world is bracing for an uncertain future. Trump spoke candidly on a range of issues.
That the US is being exploited came across as his principal grouse. The Panama administration, he said, is charging US ships using its canal more than the vessels of other countries, while Canada enjoyed US subsidies and market access with little given in return.
Also read: How China, India will navigate Trump’s bid for ‘tariffs, and tariffs alone’
Worryingly, he did not rule out military means to enforce his will. Was his earlier reference to Canada as America’s 51st state just a joke?
While he clarified that no action was planned on that front, he reiterated a desire to buy Greenland from Denmark, take over the Panama Canal and rename the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America.
Looking east, he had a warning for Hamas. “All hell will break out," he said, if Hamas doesn’t release hostages held in Gaza by his inauguration.
Also read: Vivek Kaul: Trump’s tariffs won’t kill the dollar’s exorbitant privilege
As Gaza has largely been flattened by Israeli air strikes, with over 45,000 people killed and the rest living in horrid conditions, it’s hard to see what worse could possibly be inflicted. But then, all this might just be rhetoric.
The reality of Trump’s leadership is what will count
Also read: The good, the bad and the uncertainty of the US economy under a Trump presidency
