President-elect Donald Trump recently made a series of bold policy claims that could push U.S. relations with its international allies into untested waters. During a recent press conference, Trump did not rule out the use of economic or military action to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland. He also doubled down on comments he made previously related to making Canada America’s 51st state, through economic sanctions if necessary. While the actions suggested by Trump’s statements are “effectively illegal under international law,” says Julie Garey, an associate teaching professor of political science at Northeastern University, “it’s really unprecedented in the 21st century for a power like the United States to be saying it’s going to be doing these things and then pursue them in any meaningful way.”
But whether or not the Trump administration acts on any of these stated goals, the words themselves not only raise eyebrows but have a concrete impact on other nations and America’s long-standing relationships with its international allies, Garey adds. “What is perhaps more likely is that some of this rhetoric does have an effect on the search for the new Canadian prime minister and Canadian domestic politics and how they start thinking about how their priorities should shift facing this potentially hostile relationship with one of their closest partners and allies,” Garey says. She notes that the first Trump presidency set a precedent for disrupting previously tried and true alliances and relationships between the U.S. and other nations.
