This story is syndicated from The Griffin Gazette, the newspaper of Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, CA. The original version of the story ran here.
Recent actions from President Donald Trump continue to mark his term as president a time of neo-American imperialism. Trump has stated that he wants to make Canada the 51st state, buy Greenland from Denmark and seize control of the Panama Canal. Now that these unofficial plans have been officially turned down, his offers have turned into threats.
So where do these ideas of buying land or taking it by force even stem from? During a Mar-a-Largo press conference in early January, Trump was asked about his imperial remarks.
“I can say this: we need them for economic security,” he said.
Trump expects to pressure Canada through “economic force,” and overtake Greenland and Panama through the military, he clarified. About Canada, he’s followed through with a cycle of tariffs, implementing them, removing them in part, then reinstating them again.
Through social media, Trump continues to promote his plans to expand the U.S., even as they remain extremely unpopular. A 2025 poll from the nonprofit Angus Reid Institute found that only 6% of Americans support annexing Canada. Meanwhile, a USA Today/Suffolk University Poll found that only 11% of Americans believe Trump should attempt to acquire Greenland.
Citizens on all sides continue to express disbelief.
“Why would we need to expand our borders in a war that would only put us into debt and potentially lose allies?” history teacher Pauline Grimshaw said.
When it comes to Greenland, Trump’s rationale may have to do with climate change. The melting ice caps center Greenland in a strategic position for both its newly uncovered resources and its prime spot along trade routes that may now go over the top of the globe instead of just around it, experts say. Russia and China have both increased their presence in the area in recent years.
“It’s a very small population, but a very, very large piece of land,” the president said in his speech to Congress this March, “and very, very important for military security.”
Greenland is an autonomous country that remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Over 50,000 live on the island — the world’s largest by land mass. As many as 85% of them do not want to be taken over by a different government.
On Feb. 11, Greenland elected a new, center-right prime minister, who is in favor of slow, but complete independence for Greenland.
Beyond risking military lives, the expansions Trump is seeking would worsen tensions with U.S. allies. Denmark is a member of NATO, a military alliance that the U.S., for now, remains a part of. Direct threats against a NATO member could lead to inner turmoil and an unwillingness to work with the U.S., further distancing us from the world — especially from European countries.
Given the complexities of mobilizing the military for war, it remains doubtful Trump would use military force against a European country and NATO member like Denmark. Still, as Trump displays his unpredictability again during the first months of his new term, countries view his threats as a wake-up call and potential for real danger.
National security is a current political focus for the U.S., and many in Congress, including Republicans, feel the threat of Russia and China are the dangerous realities more deserving of Trump’s focus — in some ways, validating Trump’s plan to seize Greenland.
Congress’ ban of TikTok serves as one of the most well-known examples of American leaders’ growing fears about China, as Congress and President Biden successfully banned the app on Jan. 18 just before Trump’s inauguration. Taking office, Trump granted TikTok’s parent company 75 additional days to sell its American wing to a non-Chinese company that posed less of a threat of data collection.
“I feel like he’s playing a game of chess with China to get them to overextend their resources [and] at the same time trying to get the U.S. ahead,” history teacher Patrick Cadwallader said.
America’s rivalry with China remains a long-lasting and wide-reaching issue. In an effort to combat the Chinese tech sector, Trump announced in January an investment of $500 billion in American-built AI. China less than a week later released the free AI app Deepseek, a direct competitor to American company Open AI’s ChatGPT. Stocks in American tech firms quickly fell. The market was unprepared; many had banked on AI remaining an American-dominated industry.
This February, Trump furthered his push for new American footholds, declaring at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip, relocating its 2.1 million people to other places as well as rebuilding Gaza as an American enclave. World leaders quickly condemned the idea and pointed out that it would violate international law.
As Trump’s staff backpedalled the plan, Trump doubled down, reposting an AI-generated vision of an American-controlled Gaza — a post that drew widespread backlash, especially across the Muslim world and Muslim Trump supporters who had voted for him expecting relief for Gaza.
The threats have already impacted the U.S. and its relations with its allies. Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to maintain retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s as he takes office.
“I am ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time,” Carney said Wednesday, “under a position where there is respect for Canadian sovereignty.”