SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar slipped on the last trading day of the year on Tuesday but was poised to clock strong gains in 2024 against almost all currencies as investors prepared for fewer U.S. rate cuts and the incoming Trump administration.
The dollar’s ascent, buoyed by rising Treasury yields, pushed the yen toward its lowest levels since July on Monday at around 158 per dollar.
The U.S. currency fell against the yen on Tuesday, however, and was last down 0.14% at 156.65 yen. Nonetheless, the yen was on course for a 10% drop in 2024, its fourth straight year of decline against the dollar.
Japanese markets are closed for the rest of the week, and with most markets closed on Wednesday for the New Year’s Day holiday, volumes are likely to be razor thin.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency versus six other major units, was down 0.12% at 107.92, just off a two-year high. The index has risen 6.6% in 2024 as traders have cut back on bets of deep rate cuts next year.
Federal Reserve policymakers shocked markets earlier this month by cutting their interest-rate forecast for 2025 to 50 basis points of cuts, from 100 bps, wary of stubbornly high inflation. President-elect Donald Trump has also moved the dollar.
“Yields in the U.S. have adjusted higher to price in the potential inflationary impact from the incoming Trump administration’s policy agenda including tariff hikes, tighter immigration policy and maintaining loose fiscal policy,” said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG.
DOLLAR CASTS SHADOW
The possibility of U.S. rates staying higher for longer has put a dent in most other currencies, especially those in emerging markets as traders worry about the stark interest rate difference between the United States and other economies.
The euro is set for a 5.6% decline against the dollar this year, with traders expecting the European Central Bank to be sharper with its cuts than the Fed.
On Tuesday, the single currency was 0.14% higher at $1.0421, but remained close to the two-year low of $1.03315 touched in November.
In another turbulent year, the yen breached multi-decade lows in late April and again in early July, sliding to 161.96 per dollar and spurring bouts of intervention from Tokyo.
It then touched a 14-month high of 139.58 in September before giving up those gains and is now back near 157, with traders watching out for signs of intervention from Tokyo.
The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady at this month’s meeting, and governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank was scrutinising more data on wages and awaiting clarity on Trump’s policies.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Bill Gates maybe? Elon Musk, you would think.
It’s not yet clear just who exactly will attend President-elect Donald Trump‘s annual New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago club on Tuesday evening. But this year’s bash will have a very different vibe, that much is certain.
In a social media post on Dec. 27, Trump said Mar-a-Lago stood at the “Center of the Universe” and added: “New Year’s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!!”
The red carpet event will close out a year that saw Trump survive two assassination attempts – including one at his nearby West Palm Beach golf club – before being elected president. It will also launch 2025, with Trump’s impending inauguration, his second administration’s first 100 days and the return of the Palm Beach compound to its “Southern White House” fame.
To be sure, the party has been on at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the Nov. 5 election. It doesn’t appear to have paused – with social media showing clips of Beach Boys’ lead vocalist Mike Love performing there over the weekend.
Celebrities and politicos fixtures at Trump’s galas over the past decades
Trump’s NYE party has, over the years, drawn scores of celebrities. The roster has included Tiger Woods, Martha Stewart, Serena Williams, Rod Steward, Regis Philbin and Sylvester Stallone.
Billionaires like Steve Wynn have also been on the invite list. And on Dec. 27 Trump posted that computer software mogul Gates had asked to see him at Mar-a-Lago.
During Trump’s first term as president, administration members such as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani attended. After he left office, and before he became a 2024 presidential candidate, steadfast MAGA supporters like “Pillow Guy” Mike Lindell and pollster Dick Morris were fixtures at the event.
Performers have been as varied as the D.J. Snezana dancers, singer Vanessa Williams and, last year, Vanilla Ice and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Trump’s immediate family have usually attended. Last year, however, spouse Melania skipped the party to attend to her hospitalized mother, who subsequently passed away in January.
Donald Trump Jr. has attended with his former fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, and it remains to be seen whether he will be there with his new flame, socialite Bettina Anderson. Eric Trump and spouse Lara have been mainstays. Barron Trump, now a college student in Manhattan, has been in attendance as well. So have Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, as well as Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos.
Trump NYE red carpet gaggles an opportunity to speak to nation
Trump has used the black tie NYE affairs, at times, to speak to the nation directly from the red carpet adorning the walkway into the club’s ornate Donald J. Trump ballroom.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, ahead of the coming election year, Trump responded to questions from reporters.
He sloughed off North Korean President Kim Jong Un’s veiled threat to deliver a “Christmas gift” to the U.S. if progress is not made on lifting sanctions.
“I know he’s sending out certain messages about Christmas presents, and I hope his Christmas present is a beautiful vase,” Trump said. “That’s what I’d like, a vase.”
The then-president called his House impeachment and upcoming Senate trial “a big fat hoax.” He reiterated that a trade deal with China would “probably” be signed by mid-January 2020 and that “at some point” he would be going to Beijing. When Trump was asked his goal for the new year, the first lady quickly responded: “Peace on the world.”
Not raised, and not mentioned that evening were the reports out of China of a viral outbreak, that by March, would become the most severe global pandemic in a century.
Trump sounded out presidential campaign themes at NYE 2022
Two years ago, about two months after his latest presidential campaign launch, Trump boasted he was bullish about his chances of winning back the White House going into 2023, adding he had received some poll numbers that looked “fantastic.”
Trump then sounded out what would become familiar stump themes — immigration, the economy and a “weaponized” judicial system going into a year in which he would be indicted four times.
“We need a strong border and we need it now,” he said, and then added: “We also have to bring back the economy … with inflation destroying our country.”
But Trump notably sidestepped questions about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his subsequent GOP primary rival, calling for an investigation of COVID-19 vaccines, a key legacy of Trump’s single term in the White House, and whether he supported a national abortion ban. He also walked away from a question asking if he would observe the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 violence and alleged coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.
But he exuded confidence about his White House comeback campaign.
“I think we’re doing really well,” he said. “We’re going to do very well with Make America Great Again. It’s very simple, Make America Great Again.”
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com.
President Biden speaks during a Hanukkah holiday reception in the East Room of the White House on Dec. 16. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden may eschew an end-of-term press conference — he had relatively few during his four years in office.
But as Biden’s presidency comes to a close, here’s what NPR’s White House correspondents would ask him if he did hold one:
1. Why didn’t you follow through on your pledge to be a bridge to the next generation and step aside in time for your party to hold a primary? — Mara Liasson
There has been lots of criticism from some corners of the Democratic Party that Biden hobbled his party’s chances at retaining the presidency, given Biden’s age and the negative environment related to prices, housing, immigration and his handling of foreign affairs.
“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said in March of 2020 during the Democratic primary that he was on the cusp of winning. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”
His team never addressed, however, whether he’d run for a second term if he won. The assumption in many corners was that, given his age, he’d step aside. But he didn’t until it was made apparent to him, after his disastrous July debate performance, that he was unlikely to win.
2. Do you regret not responding to the border challenges sooner and more forcefully? — Franco Ordoñez
Biden struggled to address the high number of migrants crossing the border, particularly in the early part of his administration. Immigration increasingly became a political liability for Biden.
Republicans continuously hit him over the issue. Biden later implemented tougher border policies and tried to negotiate a compromise bill with Republicans that was killed, in part, because of the influence of President-elect Donald Trump.
3. You said that the prosecution of your son Hunter Biden had been politicized. Trump says the same thing about the charges against him. Do you feel that the prosecution of Trump was politicized in any way? If not, do you worry about giving credibility to Trump’s arguments of an unfair prosecution?— Franco Ordoñez
Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted on tax fraud and gun charges, after repeatedly pledging he would not do so. Americans might understand a father pardoning a son, but Republicans slammed the move, and Biden’s reasoning even upset many Democrats.
Biden leveled that the judicial system was essentially stacked against his son and that he was targeted politically. That raised eyebrows because it echoed the “witch hunt” language Trump has used for years about cases against him. Critics argued that the comment undercut Democrats’ messaging on ethics and belief in the judicial system.
4. You campaigned on the idea that Trump was a threat to democracy. Do you still believe he’s an existential threat to democracy? And what’s your message to the many Democrats who worry he is? — Asma Khalid
After years of campaigning against Trump in the starkest of language, Biden met with Trump at the White House in what was an ironically friendly public encounter.
“Welcome back,” a smiling Biden said — one of the sharpest whiplashes in the year in politics.
The warm welcome left many opposed to Trump shaking their heads.
Both expressed a commitment to a smooth transition, a contrast to the acrimony and violence during the end of Trump’s first term, when Trump refused to accept the election results.
5. If Donald Trump was such a terrible president the first time, as you and many Democrats suggested, why did Americans want him back? — Asma Khalid
One of Biden’s biggest accomplishments was winning in 2020 and pressing a pause button on the Trump era. Had Biden or a Democrat won election in 2024, history might have remembered Biden as the person who stopped Trump and the politics that propelled him into the White House in the first place.
But Biden’s failure to secure a second term for himself or another Democrat gives more oxygen to Trumpism. That’s a setback for Democrats and those opposed to Trump’s brand of politics.
6. What do you think it will take for a woman to be elected president of the United States? — Deepa Shivaram
The country has never elected a woman to be president in its more than 200-year history. That’s despite allies like the U.K., Germany and Italy having elected female leaders.
Both times Trump has won, he defeated women — Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Vice President Harris in 2024. Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million but lost in the Electoral College. Harris lost both, including the popular vote by more than 2 million.
7. Who do you consider to be the future of the Democratic Party? After you leave office, who will you consider to be the leader of the party? — Deepa Shivaram
The 2028 election is going to be notable because Trump can’t be president again. He’s limited to two terms, consecutive or not, by the 22nd Amendment. That means an open race for the presidency in the next cycle, so who will emerge as the person Democrats look toward to lead them into the post-Biden, post-Trump future?
Biden promoted Harris as his replacement on the 2024 presidential ticket. That didn’t work out, but will the party turn to her again in a wider primary in 2028?
During the 2020 presidential primary, Biden praised Pete Buttigieg, who went on to be Biden’s transportation secretary, giving him what Biden said was the “highest compliment” he could give anyone.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but he reminds me of my son Beau,” Biden said then.
But there is a deep bench of Democrats who might be interested in leading the party, from governors like California’s Gavin Newsom, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, Maryland’s Wes Moore and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear; to senators like John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and others.
8. Looking back over your very long career in public life, what do you see as your greatest accomplishment? Do you worry that it will be buried under many paragraphs about your and your party’s political failure in 2024? — Tamara Keith
There is plenty for Biden to look back on positively about his long career on Capitol Hill, as well as his presidency. He first won election to the Senate back in 1972 and rose to become one of the most influential senators on Capitol Hill over the next several decades. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act, the crime bill and was chairman of both the judiciary and foreign relations committees.
Biden later served as vice president to then-President Barack Obama, the first Black president. With his relationships on Capitol Hill, he helped shepherd legislation and break stalemates with Republicans during Obama’s two terms.
As president, Biden helped the country past the COVID pandemic, increasing the availability of testing and vaccines. He got legislation through to help Americans financially and, after decades of failure to address the nation’s infrastructure, he was able to pass a massive infrastructure bill, something that will be felt increasingly in communities in coming years.
The country’s economy slowly improved post-pandemic and did so better than many other developed nations. But those accomplishments were overshadowed by stubbornly high, post-pandemic inflation that resulted in higher-than-pre-pandemic prices.
The fix for inflation — the Federal Reserve raising interest rates — meant more expensive mortgages and auto loans. People felt negatively about the state of the country going into the election, and many were already upset about increased border crossings, which they felt the Biden administration was slow to address. Biden’s age was a concern for many people, including lots of Democrats. Biden’s debate failure and Harris’ subsequent loss to Trump leaves a mark on Biden’s legacy, but it’s unclear if that will ultimately outweigh his other accomplishments.
Musk Vs MAGA War: Trump Camp In Bitter Fight Over Immigration, Foreign Worker Visas
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Speaking to The New York Post, the president-elect sided with two of his top lieutenants, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, after they both defended the need for hiring workers from overseas in tech, engineering, and other sectors.
Ramaswamy, who will lead the outside commission known as the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk, blamed 1990s sitcoms for emphasizing the wrong values in U.S. workers.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote in a post on X.
“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” Musk wrote on Wednesday on X. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.”
The “number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” he later added.
Their statements triggered pushback from “America First” hardliners, including Steve Bannon. They want strict immigration control and a furious war of words erupted on social media.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 13:10
Panamanian president dismisses Trump claims China controls Panama Canal
President José Raúl Mulino of Panama brushed off U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s baseless claim that Chinese soldiers are “operating the Panama Canal,” calling it “nonsense.”
In a Christmas Day message on Truth Social, Trump sarcastically wished a merry Christmas to “the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” and “making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about anything.”
Ariana Baio reports on the Panamanian leader’s response.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 12:10
‘Something great’ about Trump wanting to make Canada the 51st state, says Shark Tank star
Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary praised President-elect Donald Trump’s continued fascination with annexing Canada as an American state, saying there was “something great” about it because it would form “the most powerful country on earth.”
Having spent the past few weeks taunting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by offering to make him a “governor” of “the 51st state,” the incoming president upped the ante with a Christmas message to the United States’ neighbor to the north. Besides recommending that hockey great Wayne Gretzky run to be “the Governor of Canada,” Trump also claimed that Canadians’ taxes would massively drop if they joined the American union.
Justin Barangoa reports.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 11:10
As MAGA looks to end federal programs, more Americans believe health care is responsibilty of government
In 2013, during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that number was down to 42 percent. Back in 2006, it stood at 69 percent.
The annual Health and Healthcare survey was conducted between November 6 and 20. That same poll found that fewer Americans are rating U.S. health care coverage and quality in a positive way.
Gustaf Kilander has the details.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 10:10
Toy stores could go bust under Trump’s proposed international tariffs
According to industry group The Toy Association, nearly 80 percent of U.S. toys are manufactured in China, one of the countries the President-elect has threatened to target with immediate charges on exports.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 09:10
As businesses scramble to curry favor, Trump inaugural fund set to break record
“There is an absolute deluge of interest,” a Republican fundraiser told ABC News.
The donations have included a variety of big names in the tech and finance world.
Amazon, Meta, Uber, and Ford are all reportedly planning $1 million donations, as are hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Josh Marcus has the details.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 08:10
Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant
The 25-year-old, who tried and failed to be elected as the Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, said in the disturbing clip that undocumented persons who committed violent crimes “deserve to be ended.”
Mike Bedigan has the story.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 06:40
Trump’s ‘border czar’ says migrant families will be put in detention centers once again
Donald Trump’s incoming border czar says the administration’s plans for a mass deportation operation will include jailing immigrant families together in detention centers before they are removed from the country.
“We’re going to need to construct family facilities,” Tom Homan told The Washington Post in a recent interview. “How many beds we’re going to need will depend on what the data says.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 04:40
‘Exhausted’ Americans are tuning out politics
While cable news networks CNN and MSNBC continue to see a massive post-election drop in their television ratings, a new Associated Press poll finds that most Americans are worn out since Donald Trump’s electoral victory and have tuned out from political news.
Conducted by the AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in early December, the survey found that roughly two-thirds of respondents said they “have recently felt the need to limit media consumption about politics and government because of overload.” Some participants explained why they felt fatigued and needed to step away.
Here’s Justin Barangoa:
Oliver O’Connell29 December 2024 03:40
Yellen warns Congress ‘extraordinary measures’ will be needed to stop US hitting debt limit
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her agency will need to start taking “extraordinary measures,” or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling, as early as January 14, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon.
“Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23,” Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation’s debt ceiling — which has been suspended until Jan. 1, 2025.
The department has in the past deployed what are known as “extraordinary measures” or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. But once those measures run out the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow.
“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” she said.
“Merry Christmas,” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Christmas Day with a photo of himself and his wife, Melania. So far, so traditional. But the US president-elect was just getting started.
In another post, Trump wished merry Christmas to all “including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama canal”. He poked fun at the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and claimed the US could annex Canada as its 51st state. For good measure, he addressed “the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the US to be there, and we will!”
It was the type of diatribe that, if delivered by a drunk uncle at the Christmas dinner table, might be laughed off or undercut by “Anyone for dessert?” But Trump, 78, is less than a month away from accessing the nuclear codes and commanding the strongest military in the world. No one is quite sure whether to take him literally or seriously – or both.
Notoriously mercurial and whimsical, this is the man who, it was once said, does not play three-dimensional chess but more often than not is just eating the pieces. There are also suspicions that Trump is looking for leverage as part of the “art of the deal” – and that the former reality TV star is grabbing headlines to look strong at home and abroad.
Reed Galen, president of JoinTheUnion.us, a pro-democracy coalition, said: “The guy’s been a troll for nearly 80 years. The problem is now he happens to be a troll who is about to run, again, the most powerful nation that humanity has ever known. He wants to do this because he wants outrage. He wants, to the extent that he thinks he can induce it, fear or panic. Chaos is the coin of his realm and it always will be because things being out of control is the only way he’s in control.”
The idea of buying Greenland is not a new one for Trump. When he first raised the prospect of purchasing the vast strategic island, a Danish territory, during his first term in 2019, it was widely treated as a joke. But then Trump cancelled a trip to Denmark after its prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, spurned him.
Trump revived his push last weekend when naming his ambassador to Copenhagen, saying the “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for US national security. But he received the same answer, with Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, saying on Monday the resource-rich island is “not for sale”.
At first glance, it all seems like political theatre of the absurd. But Trump, the disrupter-in-chief, has made a habit of turning the unthinkable into the thinkable into the inevitable.
Galen said: “We should take him seriously. If he shows up in Copenhagen with a $1tn check for Greenland, maybe the Danes will take it – I don’t know. But remember, too, this is a guy who’s never actually paid for anything in his life so whenever he says, I want to buy it, that’s not how it works.”
Meanwhile, the president-elect has also taken aim at Panama. He condemned what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through and threatened to demand control of the Panama canal be returned to Washington.
Trump said last Sunday if Panama did not agree “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America – in full, quickly and without question”. He also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal, which was built by the US in 1914 to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was returned to Panama under a 1977 deal.
Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, dismissed Trump’s threats, saying that “every square metre” of the canal would remain in Panamanian hands. Trump responded on Truth Social: “We’ll see about that!”
As if two diplomatic spats were not enough, Trump has repeatedly teased neighbouring Canada that it would be a “great idea” to become the 51st US state – against a dark backdrop of threatened tariffs. He has also mockingly referred to Trudeau as “governor” – a title used by the top elected officials in each of the 50 US states.
Canada has sought to turn the other cheek. In an interview with Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast, Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the US, said: “I think that the president-elect is having a bit of fun. Canada can take it. You know, we have a strong sense of who we are and we can dish it out.”
Large Icebergs float away as the sun rises near Kulusuk in Greenland. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP
Indeed, Trump made plenty of rash statements in his first White House term that came to naught, including nuking hurricanes to stop them hitting the US and suggesting the injection of bleach to cure Covid. The second time around, however, feels different. Dubbed an “American Caesar”, Trump seems bolder, better organised and more intentional.
He now understands where the levers of power and pressure points are and is surrounded by more pliant loyalists. Whereas his first approach to Greenland was based on the instincts of a property developer, this time he is citing national security concerns – a sales pitch likely to have greater resonance on Capitol Hill.
Few experts expect him to declare war on Canada, Denmark or Panama – but they do perceive a combination of bluffing and bullying designed to throw allies off balance and achieve smaller wins. This harsh treatment stands in stark contrast to Trump’s repeated praise for leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in 2022 in a land grab of his own.
For some it is horribly reminiscent of the imperialist “great game” of the 19th century. Brett Bruen, a former global engagement director of the Barack Obama White House, said: “It’s astonishing in the 21st century that we are still talking about global powers trying to take, whether by force or pressure, territory from other countries. We have the example of Putin trying to retake Ukraine. We have the example of China trying to take large swaths of the South China Sea.”
Bruen, president of the public affairs agency Global Situation Room, added: “Now we have Trump, who essentially is trying to force both Greenland and Panama to give up territory against their will, and that violates every fundamental principle of both international law and international stability.
“It opens a Pandora’s box of crises that would likely not be contained, because if Trump can threaten other countries’ borders then [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan [of Turkey] and Mohammed bin Salman [of Saudi Arabia] and a whole host of other unsavoury leaders are going to do likewise.”
Trump’s sabre-rattling at Panama, and reported plans for a “soft invasion” of Mexico, targeting drug cartels through cross-border special forces operations or drone strikes, are likely to stir bad memories of the US among Latin American leaders and could push some into China’s embrace.
In 1973, for example, the US instigated a coup against Chile’s then president, Salvador Allende, a socialist who had been democratically elected. In 1989 the US invaded Panama to overthrow the military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the US on drug-trafficking charges. President George HW Bush told the nation that his objectives were to protect American lives, restore democracy, bring Noriega to justice and “ensure the integrity of the Panama canal treaties” before Panama took full control of it in 1999.
Trump’s sudden expansionism is doubly strange, because he has sharply criticised past US misadventures overseas. He obtained a series of deferments during the Vietnam war, railed against George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq and boasted that he did not take the US into any new wars during his presidency. His “America first” policy preaches isolationism, not foreign entanglements.
But for Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, there are echoes of President Richard Nixon’s “madman theory” – embracing irrationality to keep adversaries guessing and on the defensive.
“He is making a series of outrageous, impossible threats,” Jacobs said. “We’re going to buy Greenland? It’s not for sale, it’s a sovereign country, it’s just ridiculous. What he’s done with Canada is in a similar land of make-believe. The Panama canal? That’s been settled for decades now. But it’s all a tactic in his mind for how to disrupt the status quo and improve the bargaining position of his White House.”
With Joe Biden rapidly becoming the ghost of Christmas past, Trump is the ghost of Christmas future for the next four years. Jacobs warned: “It’s an appetiser before the main course with Trump. This is going to be the presidency again. It’s about chaos. It’s about unpredictability. It’s about a kind of madman approach to the most powerful office on planet earth. It’s terrifying.”
