Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump conducted a wide-ranging media availability at Mar-a-Lago, and it could only be described as epic Trump.
Perhaps the most important and substantive portion of the President-elect’s remarks regarded his plans to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada should they fail to curb illegal border crossing.
“Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them, and we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers.”
Trump threatened 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico shortly after winning the Nov. 5 election, citing illegal immigration and illicit fentanyl imports.
Since then, Trump has regularly argued that the tariffs are necessary to get America’s northern and southern neighbors to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” the president-elect wrote on Truth Social. “Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border.”
Some observers speculated that he was making the threat as a bargaining tactic, and the leaders of both countries quickly pledged to work with the incoming commander in chief, reported Steven Nelson of the New York Post.
President Trump’s comments on his tariff plan may have gained great urgency after the Washington Post reported some unnamed “aides” were exploring a narrowing of the items that would be subject to import duties.
According to reporting by Reuters, Trump responded on his Truth Social platform after the Washington Post cited three sources familiar with the matter as saying that Trump aides were exploring a narrower approach to tariffs, focused on certain critical sectors.
"The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don't exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it's wrong. It's just another example of Fake News," he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The Washington Post had reported that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security, in what would have represented a marked shift from promises Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign.
As if to add greater emphasis to the demand that Canada, in particular, act with urgency on his concerns the President-elect engaged in a stream of consciousness soliloquy about hockey great Wayne Gretzky running for Prime Minister of Canada, annexing Canada as a 51st state:
“Canada and the US, that would really be something,” Trump said. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.”
“I have so many great friends,” Trump went on. “One of them is The Great One, [hockey player] Wayne Gretzky. I said, ‘Run for prime minister. You’ll win. It’ll take two seconds,’” the 45th president and 47th president-elect recounted, according to the New York Post. “But he said, ‘Well, am I going to run for prime minister or governor?’”
In another segment of the hour-plus news conference the President-elect mused about renaming the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America” and annexing Greenland, slipping in the comment that he had dispatched one of his sons to the largely ice-covered island.
As is often the case, what appears to be trolling on Trump’s part masks a larger and more important truth. While Denmark, (which has claimed Greenland since 1814) is a NATO ally, it has little ability to defend the sea and air routes that are crucial to the defense of the northern approaches to our Hemisphere. And, while the Danes have proven themselves to be doughty defenders of their Baltic Sea coast and passages, their tiny navy, army and air force simply do not have the reach to defend or even surveille the challenging icebound seas and air routes of a semi-autonomous territory almost 2,000 miles from their capitol.
Is Trump’s tariff plan on target and would you support the peaceful annexation of Greenland or Canada? Let us know in the comments below.
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Tariffs are necessary as a threat to move recalcitrant governments toward more acceptable policies.
Annexing Greenland would be a great advantage to national security and the economy -- Yes.
Canada is more problematic. There are both great advantages and political problems that would come with it. The question would be whether its culture and political proclivities could be bent more in line with the personal responsibilities that come with the sort of freedom our Constitution envisions -- the US hasn't got this sorted out yet, and it would likely be more difficult with Canada.