A day after the U.S. snatched President Nicolás Maduro out of Venezuela, Donald Trump and his administration teased an American takeover of other countries. On Sunday, the president stated that he wants Greenland for the sake of U.S. national security interests. He also threatened military action against Colombia for facilitating global cocaine sales. Meanwhile, Trump’s top diplomat claimed that the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”
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Trump Wants The U.S. To Run More Than Just Venezuela
Sunday’s comments came from Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the ouster of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. The statements underscore the U.S. administration’s commitment to expanding in the Western Hemisphere. With thinly veiled threats, Donald Trump is rattling hemispheric friends and foes, too! Around the globe, folks are wondering: Who’s next?
“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Earlier on Sunday, The Atlantic asked Trump what the U.S. military action in Venezuela could indicate for Greenland. He replied, “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.”
Last month, Donald Trump’s administration published its National Security Strategy. In it, the president laid out restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central guidepost for his second term in the White House.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Reacts To Trump’s Comments On Greenland
According to the Associated Press, Saturday’s military operation in Venezuela and Trump’s comments on Sunday sparked concerns in Denmark, which has jurisdiction over Greenland.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that Trump has “no right to annex” Greenland. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the United States broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements. The U.S. and Greenland are both members of NATO.
“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.
Denmark on Sunday also signed onto a European Union statement underscoring that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected.” As reported, Donald Trump has vowed to “run” Venezuela. He has pressed the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to get in line. Also on Sunday, Trump mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture. He said the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.
The U.S. president has been gunning for Greenland since his presidential transition and early months of his second term. Trump repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland. He has pointedly not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island that belongs to our ally.
The issue had drifted out of the headlines in recent months. Then Trump put the spotlight back on Greenland less than two weeks ago. That’s when he said he would appoint Republican Gov. Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland. The Louisiana governor said in his volunteer position he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Cuba Gets A Warning
Concern is simmering in Cuba as Marco Rubio issued a new stern warning to its government. Cuba is one of Venezuela’s most important allies and trading partners. Meanwhile, U.S.-Cuba relations have been hostile since the 1959 Cuban revolution. Rubio, in an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ said Cuban officials were with Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela ahead of his capture.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.”
The secretary of state added that Cuban bodyguards were also in charge of “internal intelligence” in Maduro’s government, including “who spies on who inside, to make sure there are no traitors.” In a statement read on state television on Sunday evening, the Cuban government said 32 officers were killed in the U.S. military operation.
President Trump said that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, is in tatters. He claimed it will slide further now with the ouster of Maduro, who provided the Caribbean island with subsidized oil.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
Trump Warns Venezuela’s Neighbor: Colombia
As he made his way back to Washington on Sunday evening, Trump also put Venezuela’s neighbor on notice. He aimed his message at Colombia and its leftist president, Gustavo Petro. In a back-and-forth with reporters, he said Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
In October, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade. Colombia, per AP, is considered the epicenter of the world’s cocaine trade.
Trump began his monthslong pressure campaign on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro by ordering dozens of lethal strikes. The hits targeted alleged drug smuggling boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean. The president eventually expanded the operations to also target suspected vessels in the eastern Pacific that came from Colombia.
In September, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the U.S. added Colombia to a list of nations allegedly failing to cooperate in the drug war. This happened despite the country being the top recipient of American assistance in the region. Following that list, the U.S. slashed its assistance to the government.
“He’s not going to be doing it for very long,” Trump said of Petro on Sunday. “He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories. He’s not going to be doing it.”
Asked whether he might order the U.S. to conduct an operation against Colombia, Trump replied, “It sounds good to me.”
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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Andrea Rodriguez and Darlene Superville contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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