President-elect Donald Trump got his name splashed in news headlines all around the world last week. The reason is both humorous and worrisome. In one Truth Social ‘Christmas Message,’ he threatened the peace in three countries in one paragraph:
“Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything.” Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!”
We are always taken aback by the number of lies and insults Trump can pack into a small space. First, there are no Chinese soldiers operating the Panama Canal. (The truth: CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based company, manages two ports at the canal's entrance, but not with any Chinese soldiers. China is also funding a new bridge and other projects at the Canal to the tune of $1 billion). Second, the U.S. lost just over 5000 workers building the Canal, not 38,000. Even adding the 10s of thousands dead from other countries and previous attempts, largely from yellow fever, the total doesn’t approach Trump’s 38,000. Third, the claim that the U.S. is paying billions in repair money is false and misleading. The U.S. itself has no merchant ships traversing the Canal. It pays for U.S.-bound freight on carriers under the flags of other countries, and the ships and cargoes of all countries pay exactly the same, including a percentage going to repair. Trump's 'unfair' claims are bogus.
Next, Justin Trudeau is Prime Minister of Canada, not it's 'Governor.' Trump used ‘governor’ to imply that Canada’s real status is, or ought to be, the U.S 51st state. Nor would Canada gain much, if anything, by being annexed. In overall standard of living, Canada ranks 17th in the world, while the U.S. is stuck back at 28th. Finally, judging from current polls, a vast majority of Canadians, ranging between 80 and 90 percent depending on the province, do not want to be the 51st state of the U.S. They are quite firm about their independence and sovereignty.
As for Greenland, It remains an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Except for foreign policy, it is self-governing, and since a 2009 change in Denmark’s constitution, it has the right to declare independence. At present, it has no desire to do so, with its small economy linked to Denmark’s. Greenland’s population of 55,000 is about 90% Inuit and seven percent Danish. They live in 18 towns connected only by sea and air travel. Fishing is by far the mainstay of the economy, with a small amount of mining.
Trump is not the first U.S. president to offer to buy Greenland. Harry Truman offered Denmark $100 million in 1946, but Denmark turned it down. When the Nazis occupied Denmark, the U.S. occupied Greenland until the end of WW2, then recognized Denmark's rule. The U.S. had built several military bases, but they are now reduced to one, at Thule. Its main military value was a string of radar stations, now made redundant with satellite technology.
What Trump likely and really finds of interest are Greenland’s ‘rare earths,’ a series of 17 heavy metals needed mainly for making alloys with ordinary metals used in nuclear and military technologies. At present, over 80% of rare earths are exported from China’s Inner Mongolia. While China tightly regulates amounts and prices, they are sold to all countries, including the U.S. A few rare earth mines also exist in the U.S. but Greenland is seen as a valuable new source. The island also has considerable off-shore oil deposits that have yet to be tapped in any major way. For its own power, Greenland makes uses of hydro plants at numerous waterfalls from the glaciers.
But we have our doubts that Trump has thought much, even to this relatively superficial degree, about these three countries. Far more likely he was playing the carnival magician, holding up three shiny objects to distract the crowds from seeing what the other hand was doing.
What might that be?
In these same weeks, Trump was holding meetings at Mar-a-Lago with Hungary’s Viktor Orban and his diplomats. The other guests were Michael Waltz (R-FL), Trump’s designated National Security Advisor, and Elon Musk, who provided $250 million into Trump’s campaign. (This is pocket change to Musk, worth about $220 billion in 2023, but doubled it to $439 billion at present, December 2024. Trump’s supposed $4 billion pales in significance). Musk is the world’s richest man, owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and X Corp, formerly Twitter. He is also a big fan of Orban, having visited him several times in Hungary.
What do Trump and Musk see in Orban, other than his being a pro-Putin autocrat? First and foremost, are Orban’s methods, over several years, of taking nearly complete control of Hungary’s mass media, including its social media. According to an AP Report:
- “In 2016, Hungary’s oldest daily newspaper was suddenly shuttered after being bought by a businessman with links to Orbán. In 2018, nearly 500 pro-government outlets were simultaneously donated by their owners to a foundation headed by Orbán loyalists, creating a sprawling right-wing media conglomerate. And in 2020, nearly the entire staff of Hungary’s largest online news portal, Index, resigned en masse after its lead editor was fired under political pressure.”
Second is Orban’s use of his political party, Fidesz, in shaping Hungary’s elections. “Testimonies from 170 ballot counters” says a report from Civil Rights Defenders, “indicate that the ruling party gaining its narrow “super-majority” through “a combination of fraud and a rigged election system”. According to the organization Unhack Democracy, this includes vote buying, “importing” of voters from neighboring countries, uncertainties regarding the number of voters, election website malfunctions, tampering of votes from abroad, and election software systems built by people close to Fidesz that do not work.”
If this sounds familiar, you’re on the right track. Orban has already created much of what’s on the Trump-Musk to-do list for 2025.
Third is Orban’s solidarity with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Although Orban heads a country in NATO for the past 25 year, he regularly avoids its meetings and supports Putin on Ukraine. He also has declared a policy of ‘economic neutrality’ regarding the European Union, urging others to break restrictions placed on the Putin regime.
In one sense, what Orban and his Fidesz party-government represents is the first of Putin’s Russia-funded string of fascist and rightwing populist parties across Europe to take power. The longer-term strategic goal of Putin is to push ‘the Atlanticists’ entirely out of Europe in favor of ‘Eurasia.’ If this reminds you of ‘Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia’ in George Orwell’s 1984, you’re not far off.
So don’t be distracted by Circus Trump’s shiny metal objects. Keep your eyes on both of his hands and the entire terrain. One additional point: don’t ignore the deep contradictions. Trump’s gathering of billionaire buddies and assigning them to government posts is already getting some of his working-class voters to feel a bit of buyer’s remorse. They can sense that when this crew wants to ‘reduce the deficit,’ it’s not going to tax billionaires or cut the defense budgets benefitting the likes of SpaceX. The only other significant source to cut is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Prepare to defend your wallets as well as the Constitution.
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