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AFAIK literally no contemporary US politician but Trump has ever entertained the idea of annexing another country, but I have zero confidence that anyone around

AFAIK literally no contemporary US politician but Trump has ever entertained the idea of annexing another country, but I have zero confidence that anyone around him would do anything but roll over if he gave the order. He isn't just pretending to be crazy for galaxy-brained game-theoretic reasons, he literally is crazy and unpredictable and surrounded by shameless enablers. Even though the military would be legally obligated to refuse an unlawful order from him, I no longer have any confidence that they actually would.

ragazzina 2y ago
>no contemporary US politician but Trump has ever entertained the idea of annexing another country, Does JD Vance on Greenland count?
cardamomo 2y ago
No contemporary politician, perhaps, but we're a young country and don't have to look too far back to see how much of the US was annexed from French, Spanish, and Mexican territory. And let's not forget Caribbean and Pacific territories.
- senderista 2y ago
  Absolutely, the US once was an unapologetically imperialist nation and Trump wants to turn the clock back to a global club of bullies each with their own sphere of influence.
graeme 2y ago
A number of administration officials have supported taking over Canada. Kristi Noem went to a library that straddles the border and repeatedly stepped back and forth, saying "51st state" every time she stepped into Canada: https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/dhs-secretary-kristi-noem-accused-of-referring-to-canada-as-51st-state-at-quebec-vermont-border/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/dhs-secretary-kristi... Elon Musk called Canada "not a country". He deleted it but it was a real tweet: https://x.com/essenviews/status/1894270080206135705 https://x.com/essenviews/status/1894270080206135705 This was in the WSJ on March 24th in an article about Canadian travel: >"The administration has held firm on its messaging. “Canadians will no longer have to worry about the inconveniences of international travel when they become American citizens as residents of our cherished 51st state,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said." https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/trump-canada-vacation-travel-plans-1428d574 https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/trump-canada-vacation-t... ----- An administration official has a new comment more or less on a daily basis about how it's inevitable they'll take us over.
- senderista 2y ago
  I guess I should have been more explicit: no politician that I know of was talking about annexing Canada or Greenland before Trump, and the people you quote above are only endorsing it because they would never contradict anything Trump says.
- TYPE_FASTER 2y ago
  https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5337411/library-us-canada-border-haskell https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5337411/library-us-cana...

ragazzina 2y ago

>no contemporary US politician but Trump has ever entertained the idea of annexing another country, Does JD Vance on Greenland count?

cardamomo 2y ago

No contemporary politician, perhaps, but we're a young country and don't have to look too far back to see how much of the US was annexed from French, Spanish, and Mexican territory. And let's not forget Caribbean and Pacific territories.

senderista 2y ago
Absolutely, the US once was an unapologetically imperialist nation and Trump wants to turn the clock back to a global club of bullies each with their own sphere of influence.

graeme 2y ago

A number of administration officials have supported taking over Canada. Kristi Noem went to a library that straddles the border and repeatedly stepped back and forth, saying "51st state" every time she stepped into Canada: https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/dhs-secretary-kristi-noem-accused-of-referring-to-canada-as-51st-state-at-quebec-vermont-border/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/dhs-secretary-kristi... Elon Musk called Canada "not a country". He deleted it but it was a real tweet: https://x.com/essenviews/status/1894270080206135705 https://x.com/essenviews/status/1894270080206135705 This was in the WSJ on March 24th in an article about Canadian travel: >"The administration has held firm on its messaging. “Canadians will no longer have to worry about the inconveniences of international travel when they become American citizens as residents of our cherished 51st state,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said." https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/trump-canada-vacation-travel-plans-1428d574 https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/trump-canada-vacation-t... ----- An administration official has a new comment more or less on a daily basis about how it's inevitable they'll take us over.

senderista 2y ago
I guess I should have been more explicit: no politician that I know of was talking about annexing Canada or Greenland before Trump, and the people you quote above are only endorsing it because they would never contradict anything Trump says.
TYPE_FASTER 2y ago
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5337411/library-us-canada-border-haskell https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5337411/library-us-cana...