In the space of an hour, US president-elect Donald Trump called for absorbing Canada, declined to rule out using military force to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland, demanded NATO allies spend 5 percent of GDP on defense and vowed “all hell would break loose” in the Middle East if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages before he takes office.
He also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
“What a beautiful name — and it’s appropriate,” Trump told a news conference on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Photo: AFP
He did not explain how any of these improbable pledges would come to pass, beyond threatening to impose tariffs on nations, including Denmark, that do not cooperate.
However, the rambling session erased any doubt that Trump plans to take foreign policy to new precedent-shattering levels when he takes office in less than two weeks.
Panama has already vowed not to give up the canal, and Denmark says it has no plans to cede control of Greenland.
Photo: Emil Stach and Ritzau Scanpix via AFP
Trump did not mention that the US has not spent 5 percent of GDP on defense since the 1980s. The current figure is about 3 percent.
However, the rhetoric all fits with a far more emboldened stance, to say and do almost whatever he wants given the mandate he believes he received for a second term after winning the popular and electoral votes.
If Trump’s foreign policy approach in his first term flirted with trolling the rest of the world, he is taking it to a new level this time around — and well before his second term even starts.
The maximalist positions hold appeal for a president who has openly expressed respect for autocrats including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
No US president has overseen the expansion of US territory since 1947, when then-US president Harry Truman oversaw the acquisition of several small Pacific Ocean island chains from Japan in the aftermath of World War II.
Halfway through his news conference on Tuesday, Trump summoned his appointed Middle East envoy, real-estate investor and golf buddy Steve Witkoff, to the stage.
“If they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East,” Trump said of the hostages being held by Hamas.
Amid the speculation about Greenland, his son Donald Jr flew to Nuuk, the territory’s capital, for what he described as nothing more than a day trip.
However, he brought his father’s anointed head of presidential personnel, Sergio Gor, and popular right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk along for the trip.
Some members of the group wore “Trump Force One” jackets with their names embroidered on the lapel.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS