What other countries should be on Trump’s shopping list?

I was interviewed by Times Radio in London earlier this week, and all the attention was on President-elect Donald Trump’s speech on Canada, Greenland and Panama.

It would be really helpful to know how many people in those three countries would like to be part of the USA in some way. I suspect the total number will be in the millions – and some polling organizations will certainly want to take on this task.

As if to encourage them to get excited, Trump posted several times on the subject earlier this week. Regarding Greenland, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Don Jr. and my representative landed in Greenland. The reception has been great. They and the free world need safety, security, strength and peace! This is a deal that must be done. Maga. Make Greenland great again!

Regarding Canada – now our potential “51st state” – Trump posted two photos of maps of North America. Both images depict North America as an enlarged United States. No more Canada!

While Trump clearly has a little fun with the whole thing, as with a number of his past moves or political desires, there is real genius and logic behind much of this thinking.

Take Greenland and Panama for example. With these two countries, there are many national security and economic issues and interests that directly affect the United States. During his press conference from Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, Trump said: “We need Greenland for national security purposes. We have approximately 45,000 people there… If you look overseas, Chinese ships are everywhere. Russian ships are everywhere.” “We don’t allow that to happen. Denmark wants to reach a conclusion, but no one knows if they have any valid address or interest in whether people will vote for independence or come to the United States.”

Is ‘stable genius’ businessman Trump up to something? Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) thinks so. “I would never support taking it by force, but I think it’s a responsible conversation… Remember the Louisiana Purchase? I think Alaska was great, too,” he said while on Fox News to discuss the idea of ​​taking Greenland.

Tens of millions of Americans and people around the world support Trump for many reasons. One of the main reasons is his real-world trading experience. Too many of our presidents have been career politicians who have little or no understanding of the business world. Trump has consistently proven that experience, talent, and an instinct to act on it matter.

As someone who single-handedly created a global business empire, Trump regularly thought outside the box and asked questions that seemed to have eluded others. Sometimes – as described in his famous book The Art of the Deal – the question is as simple as: “Well, what if we just bought it?”

Trump and his eye for successful business deals are now trained on countries rather than buildings and hotels. When he looks at some troubled countries, he seems to ask himself: “Well, what if we just bought them and made them part of the United States?”

Often times in the business world, the most brilliant strategies are the most obvious. From Fetterman’s perspective, it looks like Trump is really on to something here.

This realization, in turn, raises a question: What other countries should be on Trump’s shopping list? If not actually acquired or folded, then at least for situational awareness?

Obviously the question is somewhat sarcastic, but there is a very serious element here. Returning to the countries that have direct implications for America’s national and economic security, what about Cuba? That communist state is rapidly collapsing, but its proximity to the United States, combined with the ability it provides our adversaries as a staging area against us, still qualifies it as a clear and present danger.

Regardless of the corrupt and failed leadership in that country, again, if we were allowed to poll the opinions of the actual Cuban people, I am willing to bet that an overwhelming number of them would want their island nation to become part of the United States immediately.

Adding to the list of “what ifs,” what about the Bahamas, Haiti, Taiwan, or even North Korea? Being Trump Trump means seeing the world through his eyes.

What do you think we are missing? Before your next cruise across the American Bight, this may be a question worth pondering.

Douglas MacKinnon He is a former White House and Pentagon official.