Why Is Donald Trump So Horny for Territory?
My latest for Reason, on Trump's ardent desire to expand U.S. borders.
My latest essay for Reason is out in the June issue and now available online. The headline is self-explanatory: “What if the President Tries to Annex Greenland and Canada?” Some of the opening paragraphs:
When Trump ran for president again in 2024, he articulated similarly dovish themes. He blasted his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley as a "warmonger"; he advocated talking with authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un; and he repeatedly declared that only he could avert World War III. His vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, maintained that Trump was "the candidate of peace."
But in the first 100 days of Trump's second term—when not roiling the global economy with tariffs—he has talked an awful lot about absorbing more territory regardless of how the occupants of that territory feel about it. In his second inaugural address, the president pledged that the United States would be a country that "expands our territory." Some of Trump's defenders tried to explain away that clause as a reference to space exploration, but that excuse has become less and less plausible.
In just his first two months in office, Trump has repeatedly and insistently declared his interest in annexing Greenland, absorbing Canada, occupying Gaza, reclaiming the Panama Canal, mining rare earths in Ukraine, and unilaterally using force in Mexico. None of this sounds particularly dovish or helpful in averting World War III….
At this point in my first draft, I wrote the sentence, “The simplest way to put it is that Donald Trump is horny for territory.” Reason’s editors excised that particular phrasing and while I can’t blame them for that choice I stand by that characterization. It’s the best way to put Trump’s obsession with territory — an obsession that was decidedly not front and center in any of his presidential campaigns — in the proper absurd context.
The question I ask and answer in the Reason essay is why Trump is so horny for territory:
First, Trump has always possessed a mercantilist, zero-sum view of world politics and the global economy. In that mindset, more territory is better than less.
Second, Trump believes that peace among the great powers can be achieved through spheres of influence. This means conceding parts of the globe to Russia and China—while expanding U.S. control over the Western hemisphere.
Third, changing territorial boundaries transgresses all sorts of international norms—and Trump loves transgressing.
Finally, Trump wants to emulate the leaders he admires. Putin and Xi are also into expanding their territorial control.
You will have to read the whole thing to see why I conclude that, “in trying to manifest his vision board of an expansionist United States, Trump is undermining key strategic pillars that have bolstered the free world for decades. If Trump achieves any of his desired territorial gains, the United States might be larger. But it will also be poorer and radically more insecure.”
This point is particularly worth stressing given the events of the past week. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met Trump in the White House and made it clear in no uncertain terms that there would be never be an Anschluss between Canada and the United States. According to Axios,
“Carney told Trump during their meeting that Canada "is not for sale," nor will it be.
“Never say never," Trump responded, to which Carney repeatedly said: "Never."
Trump seemed to acknowledge that Canada will not be joining the United States, but this has not stopped him from being all horned up for other parts of the globe. In his Meet the Press interview last Sunday, Trump repeated his desire to annex Greenland and refusing to rule out the use of force:
It could happen. Something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest, we need that for national and international security…. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.
In this case, it’s not just Trump’s words that should be of concern. Both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times report that the U.S. intelligence community is now redirecting some assets to pay more attention to Greenland. According to the NYT write-up:
U.S. intelligence agencies have focused more closely on Greenland in the past several weeks, spurred by President Trump’s interest in acquiring the island and Vice President JD Vance’s trip to a U.S. military base there, according to multiple American officials.
A growing number of intelligence reports about Greenland have been included in information circulated in the executive branch and Congress, the officials said.
The increased analytic focus by a number of intelligence agencies comes as Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire the island, saying it is vital for national security. Greenland is strategically located in the Arctic Circle and has huge stores of rare earth minerals….
Some of the recent intelligence reports have focused on Russian or Chinese interest in the island, current and former officials said. They added that the White House remained concerned about security of the Arctic and encroachment by China and Russia on American interests….
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent a “collection emphasis message” to various intelligence agencies last week, reminding directors of Mr. Trump’s interest in Greenland. The memo, which was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, asked for information on Greenland’s independence movement and public attitudes about American resource extraction.
While this is not a huge shift — the primary change is a greater collection of open source intelligence — it is a shift. Denmark has summoned the U.S. ambassador for an explanation.
Hopefully, that open-source intel includes the fact that Greenland’s mid-March elections showed considerable backlash to Trump’s annexation rhetoric. Qulleq, the most pro-American party in Greenland, failed to muster enough votes for a seat in the parliament. All the major parties in Greenland categorically rejected annexation by the United States. It is almost as if he turns other territories off or something.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump does not have the greatest record when it comes to understanding that no means no. His appetite for foreign territory will need to be watched for the rest of his term. Even his Gaza idea is not dead. The only thing that should be dead and buried at this point is the idea that Donald Trump is in any way, shape or form a foreign policy dove.
I’m really not sure if Americans, even liberal Americans, understand just how despised Trump is in the rest of the world, especially among Americas allies. Not just Trump either but the fact Americans elected this clown twice gives people like my standard left wing America hating mum the ultimate argument ender when she is banging on about his awful Americans are
He’s like everything the rest of the world hates about America in one package and the fact he won the 24 election with the most votes, even if not a majority, just proves to people who don’t like America, that the problem isn’t Americas wealth or its power or its cultural dominance, the problem is Americans
Great post. My pet theory is simpler: Someone in Trump's circle has convinced him that in order to have a "legacy" as a great/significant presidency, he needs to expand America's territory like a 19th century POTUS (McKinley, Polk, etc). Renaming bodies of water scratches a bit of this itch, but adding something seemingly HUGE on the map (like Greenland) would really do it for him.
My related, slightly sillier (but I'd argue still plausible!) theory is that someone in his circle played too much RISK as a kid and really thinks it would be neat/easy to have a unified North America (not including Mexico, of course).
The fact that incorporating Canada into the US would make it harder, not easier for the US to govern itself (and even harder for the GOP to govern) never figures into it, because the whole project is about assuaging a man with the undeveloped ego and consequential thinking of a 12 year old, rather than serious people. Likewise, the "Greenland has rare minerals and/or China is threatening it!" are just post-hoc explanations to justify Trump's "horniness".