Last Friday, just before boarding Air Force One to spend the weekend playing golf in Florida, Donald Trump answered questions from journalists about tariffs and trade wars. In his words lie the keys to his worldview, not only on how he perceives the economy - essentially a zero-sum game - but also power relations.
On one hand, he boasted of having imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in the past, claiming that there would be no industry in the country now without them. On the other hand, he stated that metalworkers are the ones who love him the most - and that he always has to mention the states where he won the elections. And for him, every action requires a reward: if you vote for me and love me, I will help you. Furthermore, he showed his particular understanding of the country's history, repeating that it is essential to build a commercial wall to achieve greatness.
"We were the richest country in the world. We were the richest between 1870 and 1913 when we had tariffs. And then they adopted an income tax concept," he stated, with his new thesis that if the rest of the world pays the US a lot for its exports, they could do away with income tax.
But the most significant part of this Trump II, very different in his roadmap from the first term, came next. "No one can compete with us because we have, by far, the biggest piggy bank", he affirmed. He has insisted time and time again that his economy, the largest in the world, and his military, the most powerful, make them unique. Trump believes that the strongest has the right and duty to use his position to get everything he needs or desires, above neighbors, allies, or treaties. In his interpretation, the trade deficits of the United States can only be blamed on his country being mistreated by the world, by freeloaders and opportunists. Not by having a too strong dollar - the threats to the BRICS for considering another international currency are becoming stronger -, a high debt, or even something more basic: a strong domestic demand.
Added to all this is a resurrection of the idea of the Manifest Destiny, a concept coined for the first time in the mid-19th century. However, it would no longer be about exposing their civilizational or democratic model across the continent or the planet - the 'liberal' values - but quite the opposite: taking what he believes rightfully belongs to them with an imperial taste. From the Panama Canal to Greenland. This explains the aggressiveness of the president and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who on his first trip forced deportations to Colombia from Panama while compelling local authorities to change their policy towards China or grant exemption from payment to US Navy ships wanting to cross the Canal. With the completely open threat of occupying by force, again.
"We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we will get it back," declared Trump in his inaugural speech at the Capitol. "The United States will once again be considered a nation in growth, increasing its wealth, expanding its territory, building its cities, raising its expectations, and carrying its flag towards new and beautiful horizons," he stated. "And we will pursue our Manifest Destiny to the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars," he added, as a nod to his main ally, Elon Musk.
What happened with Mexico and Canada is another example. On Monday, after the stock market's fall, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that, following a call with the White House, Washington agreed to halt tariffs for at least a month in exchange for her government reinforcing "the northern border with 10,000 National Guard elements". Trump's threat was not just economic. The US has designated cartels as terrorist organizations, giving itself the authority to launch military operations against them, as in the Middle East or Africa. Additionally, on Saturday, he accused his neighbor's government of being an "ally" of drug trafficking gangs, with the potential consequences that could arise from it.
The Canadian case is even more glaring. Although in recent years, there has been a proliferation of laboratories producing fentanyl, "last year, US Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted around 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared to nearly 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico, where cartels mass-produce the drug," according to data collected by The New York Times. Trump has repeatedly stated that the flow is "massive," but in his message on Monday, after speaking with Justin Trudeau, whom he had not answered the phone for weeks, he pointed to another element: "Canada doesn't even allow US banks to open or do business there. What is all this about?", he wrote on his social media.
Invoking the overdose crisis is a way to be able to use national emergency laws and unilaterally violate the free trade agreements that he himself forced everyone to renegotiate in his first term. The major problem with imperial rhetoric, stoking the strength of the dollar and the military, is that once unleashed, it is very difficult to control. In his first term, Trump did everything possible to demolish the international order in place for decades, from the UN to NATO. Now, as journalist Franklin Foer says, "he aims to plant his flag on the ruins".