USA04 July, 20263 min read
Trump’s Expansionism Links 250 Years Of U.S. Growth To Greenland, Denmark, And The United Kingdom
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Trump is framed as continuing long-standing U.S. expansionism rooted in the Monroe Doctrine. Greenland and Venezuela emerge as focal targets in debates over expansionist aims.
250 years, Trump framed
The BBC traces how, over 250 years since the US declared independence from Great Britain, the country grew from the original 13 colonies covering 430,000 sq miles (1.1 million sq km) to a geographic footprint of approximately 3.7 million sq miles, and it links President Donald Trump’s key promises on limiting immigration and expanding US power and territory to earlier divisions in the nation. The BBC also cites a warning from US history professor Heather Cox Richardson, saying, "Anybody who was looking at the colonies trying to create this nation is saying, all we need to do is stay over here and wait till they tear themselves apart and go back and pick them up," as it describes uncertainty in the early years of the United States. In a separate account, Agencia Paco Urondo argues that American expansionism is "neither new nor was it invented by Trump," and it says the territorial expansion of the United States has no limits whether by military occupation, diplomatic cession, or simple purchase.
Agencia Paco Urondo adds that Trump’s threats with tariffs and bullets have a concrete target: Greenland, and it frames the interest as involving Denmark and the United Kingdom because of European powers. The BBC’s narrative places Trump’s expansionism in a longer arc of US growth and identity, while Agencia Paco Urondo places it in a continuity of doctrines and hemispheric predominance.
Greenland, NATO, tariffs
Agencia Paco Urondo says Trump’s Greenland focus runs through a pre-agreement at the Davos World Economic Forum with Mark Rutte, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and it describes Denmark’s position through its 1954 Constitution, autonomy since 1979, and internal government responsibilities since 2008. Agencia Paco Urondo also claims that the threat of new tariffs for Denmark and European nations that accompanied a recent military exercise in that territory is withdrawn, while it says additional U.S. troops would be sent under a 1951 treaty renegotiated in 2004 that limits them to the Thule air base. In Le Devoir, Frédérick Gagnon says a military intervention in Greenland would be very unpopular, adding that "about 80 percent of Americans, according to polls we’ve seen in recent days, oppose this plan."
Le Devoir further frames domestic politics around Trump’s base, saying he is at 89 percent approval among Republicans and at 25 percent approval among independents, with the November 2026 midterm elections as a key test. Together, the two accounts connect Greenland to both external bargaining and internal political constraints, with Agencia Paco Urondo emphasizing NATO-linked arrangements and Le Devoir emphasizing polling and approval ratings.
What’s at stake next
Le Devoir says the consequences of Trump failing to convince supporters to vote in November matter because "Usually, the president’s party loses seats in Congress during midterm elections," while it notes Republicans hold majorities in both chambers and have good chances of keeping the Senate. Le Devoir also links Trump’s foreign projects to budget fights, arguing that pursuing measures by presidential decree such as the mass expulsion of undocumented migrants would require additional funds and that Democrats would probably not give him everything he asks. In Agencia Paco Urondo’s account, the stakes are framed as a ratification of American predominance in the Western Hemisphere through a latest U.S. document it calls the "Donroe Doctrine," and it places the Arctic shield within a stone’s throw of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.
Agencia Paco Urondo further argues that Trump’s expansionism targets Greenland and Canada while involving European powers, and it says Denmark depends on Denmark since 1814 and is part of NATO, making the meeting understood. Across the two sources, the next phase is portrayed as hinging on both political approval at home and the strategic posture abroad, with midterm elections and budget constraints on one side and Greenland-linked arrangements and deterrence on the other.