America Rediscovers Manifest Destiny
By Todd Davis
Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United States was destined to expand westward across North America spreading truth, justice, and the American way, was established in the 19th century as an argument for the annexation of Texas. Americans didn’t stop at Texas as the frontier was pushed further and further west until it crossed the Great Pacific and included Hawaii among the 50 states along with various South Pacific protectorates like Guam and the Philippine Islands. Manifest Destiny unquestionably was instrumental in elevating the United States into a Great Power capable of first matching, then surpassing the Old World powers in Europe.
Two World Wars fought for the supremacy of the European Continent left those former world powers bankrupt, conquered, or exhausted leaving only the United States and the Soviet Union standing as geopolitical giants. Instead of capitalizing on the conquests achieved on the battlefield, the United States rebuilt Germany and Japan and then played either a foil to the Red Menace or acted as a belligerent provoking conflict with the Soviet Union depending on which version of history you believe.
Either way, American expansion effectively ended, and the modern era of a “rules-based international order” was established. The transition from imperialism to color revolutions and “spreading democracy” and the associated globalization of the world, popular with neoliberal/conservative political elites, hasn’t been popular with citizens. This shift away from patriotism and nationalism has led to forever wars, deindustrialization, and a general malaise of the American Spirit.
Trump and American Expansionism
Enter President Donald J. Trump. In a whirlwind series of statements over the last several weeks, Trump has indicated he wants the United States to retake control of the Panama Canal, purchase or occupy Greenland, and incorporate some (or all?) of Canada into the United States.
Trump originally mentioned acquiring Greenland in his first term. Dismissed then by the media and politicians, Trump seems more determined this time around. Greenland is largely inhospitable to population growth but rich in natural resources. It also occupies a key strategic position in the Arctic Circle, which could become the 21st-century version of 19th-century Africa.
More importantly, Trump seems to realize something the Czars of Russia figured out a long time ago; you cannot be considered a great leader unless you add territory to the homeland. And make no mistake about it, Trump wants to be remembered as a great leader. Every decision, domestic and global, will be taken with this singular goal in mind; Trump wants to be on the Mount Rushmore of modern American presidents.
A signature way Trump can cement his legacy is by adding territory directly or establishing new permanent zones of control for the United States. He has begun by operating under the principle that you won’t know until you ask. These public discussions about American expansion are part of Trump’s aggressive negotiating strategy.
Would Trump ever invade Greenland? That prospect seems both ludicrous and unnecessary when it is pointed out to the people at home and the world at large that the little, insignificant country of Denmark runs Greenland. Denmark, which sent what little military forces it had to be destroyed in Ukraine, could not protect Greenland from a determined band of 9th-century Danish Vikings at this point. Trump has begun laying out the groundwork for a logical argument that the United States is a far more appropriate guardian of the strategically important island of Greenland.
The same path of thinking applies to the Panama Canal. When the choice is put to Americans, should we own the canal or should China, who do you think is going to win that argument? Unlike Greenland, which has never been in the sphere of America’s Monroe Doctrine, Panama falls directly into what can be plausibly called vital American interests. A special military operation to secure the canal is not inconceivable and there is little Panama can do to prevent Trump from taking the canal if negotiations fall through. Trump doubled down on Panama during his inauguration speech indicating that it could be his priority among American expansion targets. An increased focus on China over Ukraine by the Trump Administration would make the strategic acquisition of the canal designed to enhance American and thwart Chinese interests a key cog in Trump’s geopolitical containment strategy.
Canada feels like more of a stretch goal for Trump. Or, more accurately, high-level trolling toward the neoliberalism that has infected Western politics. Unquestionably, Canada would be better off being incorporated into the United States. The fall of Justin Trudeau demonstrates how deeply unhappy most Canadians are with their current politics, especially concerning immigration, a topic directly in Trump’s wheelhouse. Trump’s bombast toward Canada is likely meant to be more of a threat to ensure cooperation in trade and immigration policy. Leveling a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods would destroy Canada’s economy and Trump wants to make sure the Canadian political class knows this. Trump will likely take a hostile attitude toward Canada during his term, but a direct annexation of Ontario remains rooted in a knockoff Tom Clancy plot.
A New Packaging of Forever War?
Trump’s campaign promises of ending foreign wars and focusing on America seem to be at direct odds with these lofty territorial imperial ambitions. A cynical observer might conclude this is a new way to package forever war. He hasn’t made the same mistakes from his first administration by staffing key cabinet positions with Neocons like Mark Milley, Mike Pompei, or John Bolton. Nikki Haley, the Dick Cheney in heels of the Republican Party has been banished. Even so, Diet Coke Neocon Marco Rubio will be his Secretary of State and the Mitch McConnell/Lindsey Graham segment of his party will constantly be clamoring for the apparatus of forever war. This shrinking but still, powerful segment of the party will attempt to thwart any geopolitical aspirations that the incoming president might have that go against the traditional policy that has been so destructive to America over the last three decades.
The initial reaction among Trump’s MAGA base is support for his expansionism of US hegemony. It’s illustrative into the mindset of Americans, it’s not that we are against war, we are against pointless war that leads to nowhere. Lots of war, little payoff, can best describe the last thirty years of American foreign policy. What was the benefit for Americans during military actions in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Somalia? Inconclusive ambitions to “spread democracy” have no benefit for people in Michigan or Missouri. Worst-case scenarios were costly trillion-dollar defeats for nothing.
Trump is promising a reward for a return to Empire. He’s offering to paint the geopolitical map red, white, and blue. The homeland may have been deindustrialized and wealth disparity has never been greater between the coast and the heartland but Trump will seek to restore patriotic zeal by the most ancient method; through conquest.
America has a history of violence. From the winning of the West to the Civil War. Much of the drive toward Manifest Destiny was accomplished through wars that cost Americans little while rewriting large map sections. Who were we to say no if Napoleon was willing to sell Louisiana and millions of acres? Texas was added after a few hundred dead at the Alamo. Although the Indian Wars of the Great Plains stretched on for decades, the entire West opened up for the price of a few hundred of Custer’s Seventh Cavalry. Low cost, large reward.
Trump’s new deal to Americans is a move away from Zero Dark Thirty and a return to Top Gun. Quasi-religious war in dusty, hot, dirty places that has no resolution is about to be replaced with expensive jets doing fly-bys over areas that are going to succumb to American pressure. You can almost hear “Danger Zone” playing and see the countless American flags waving. Expansionism directed by Jerry Bruckheimer.
To the Stars?
Everyone expects the first 100 days of the Trump Administration to be a whirlwind of change. A departure from the anti-American policy put into effect by the Biden Administration. If Trump is going to advance the idea of Greenland conquest, why stop there?
During Trump’s inauguration speech, he said,
We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars and we will plant the stars and stripes on Mars.
An homage to Trump’s super backer, billionaire, and space pioneer Elon Musk? Sure, partly. But it also speaks to Trump’s vision which is going to be limited only by the imaginations of his staff and those around him. The failed assassination attempts on Trump have left him with no small degree of a messianic complex. He stated,
I was saved by God to make America great again.
Does this include annexing northern Mexico to seal the southern border once and for all? Cut aside NATO and form a post-modern Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Russia and Vladimir Putin? Would anything be surprising at this point? Trump has always been a non-traditional politician, part oligarch, part populist, part political realist. Unburdened by reelection, ordained in some minds by God, Trump is free to handcraft his legacy on the nation. He can no longer be dismissed as an anomaly. The last dozen years will be remembered as the era of Donald J. Trump in American politics. Depending on the success of this term and the public’s appetite for his likely successor J.D. Vance it could stretch out over two decades. Trump boldly promised,
From this moment on America’s decline is over!
Can one gigantic figure stop the long slow decline of the American Empire? Will he reinvigorate an atrophied national will with promises of land grabs and Top Gun-era patriotism? Time will tell whether or not that is possible. He may be America’s last chance to reverse course. And knowing President Trump, he wouldn’t want it any other way.
