Winston Churchill once said about one of his political opponents, “He is a modest man with much to be modest about.” Well, regarding Donald Trump, I think Mr. Trump is an arrogant man with indeed much to be arrogant about. Trump is brilliant; stupid people generally don’t get to be multi-billionaires. He reminds me a lot of Newt Gingrich 20-25 years ago. His head is exploding with ideas, but his mouth sometimes spouts them before he has fully thought them through. Gingrich had numerous ideas—some of them fantastic, some of them kind of dumb, but he was a thinker, and Donald Trump is, too. A brilliant man, with a lot of ideas, and many of them very, very good. But some of them...
One problem with Mr. Trump—and every single politician has this issue—is the danger of getting a “god” complex. Politicians are surrounded by sycophants who are constantly telling them how wonderful they are, how smart they are, how the world can’t live without them—schmooze, schmooze, kiss butt, kiss butt. And for nearly every politician, it goes to their head, and they do, indeed, begin believing that he/she, and he/she alone, can save the country and the world. I see a little bit of that in Donald Trump (I always have), but maybe even more so in the last year, and maybe even increasingly since November 5. Power in the hands of ANY human being scares me to death, and that includes Donald Trump. He is, as I said, a brilliant man, but he’s also a very fallible homo sapiens. And as a result, his greatest personal need is to humble himself before God and recognize his own shortcomings. In other words, don’t listen to a word his sycophants say about him. They are lying to him for personal reasons, just like Trump’s enemies are lying about him for THEIR personal reasons. Trump shouldn’t believe either one of them.
Mr. Trump has been talking a lot lately about relationships between the United States, Canada, Greenland, and Panama. Let me analyze each of these in turn.
1. Canada
A great event has happened this week in Canada—the resignation of Justin Trudeau. That is every bit as wonderful for the people of Canada as Joe Biden leaving the White House is for America. We don’t know yet who the next Prime Minister of Canada will be, but hopefully Pierre Poilievre will assume the office. He’s a good, solid conservative, and if you listen to him talk, he makes mountains of sense. Canada, at least economically, needs him.
Since Trudeau’s resignation, Mr. Trump has mentioned (again) the possibility of Canada becoming America’s 51st state. I’m not sure if he is serious, or just being facetious, but it’s not going to happen, and he probably shouldn’t even be talking about it. My best friend is a Canadian, and I asked him what the Canadian people might think about the idea. He was confident that most Canadians, at present, would not be in favor of joining America. It’s Trump throwing something out, and it is very possibly an idea before its time. The world does seem to be slowly moving in a “globalist,” “unionist” direction, and I can see the possibility, a few decades from now, of a “United States of North America” (along the lines of the European Union) where Canada, the USA, Mexico, and maybe some other Latin American countries become incorporated. But it’s not going to happen now, Canada does not want to join the USA at present, and Trump probably shouldn’t even be mentioning it. He must realize that his enemies will use anything against him to accuse him of “dictator” tendencies, and the “Canada as the 51st state” idea sounds like American bombast, and won’t help convince many people that Mr. Trump is a humble politician minding his own business. He doesn’t need to fuel the “Hitler” flames again.
2. Greenland
I’m not sure why Trump ever even mentioned Greenland. Nobody in that direction of the world is threatening America. And to be perfectly honest, I found utterly horrifying Mr. Trump’s recent statement that he “cannot assure” that military or economic coercion would not be used to take control of Greenland. He said, “we need them for economic security.” We do? Since when? Why? If the people of Greenland, currently an “autonomous Danish dependent territory,” wish to voluntarily join the United States (their Prime Minister recently said “no”), then I would certainly think it would be worth considering to determine if both countries could be benefitted. But I am appalled that Mr. Trump would mention “military or economic coercion” against a Greenland that poses absolutely no threat to America. This is the kind of “abuse of power” language that I hate in EVERY politician, and Mr. Trump is no exception to that.
If China is trying to conquer Greenland (I’ve never heard of such), then yeah, America needs to pay attention. But Mr. Trump needs to explain VERY CLEARLY his thoughts on why Greenland poses such a threat, or need, to the United States, enough to justify possible economic or military intervention. I’ve seen nothing from him yet along that line.
3. Panama
The Panama Canal is a vital waterway for the world, and that means the United States. We DO have a vested interest in keeping that canal open and free from foreign domination. If, as has been suggested, China’s influence is getting too strong in that region, then yes, I would definitely be in favor of some action by Mr. Trump. We must not let China, or any nation, control that canal.
I love listening to Mr. Trump talk and hearing his ideas. I think some of them are fantastic, and some of them are...meh. But he thinks. I just hope he doesn’t develop a God-complex and abuse his power. Never forget that Donald Trump is human.
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