DONALD Trump has made clear his interest in expanding the United States, with Venezuela and Greenland pinpointed as contenders to become the 51st state.
Earlier this year, Trump sparked controversy after posting comments linking Venezuela to the idea of becoming part of the United States after its shock victory over the United States in the World Baseball Classic final in Miami.
Ahead of the match, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”
Following Venezuela’s victory over the United States, he posted again: “STATEHOOD!!! President DJT.”
The comments sparked fresh political tensions between the two countries, which were heightened in January following the American capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from within his own country.
Days later, Trump said during a phone interview with Fox News that he was “seriously considering” the idea of making Venezuela a permanent part of the United States.
He pointed to their oil reserves, which some analysts estimate could be worth up to $40trillion, as a key component of his plan.
“Venezuela loves Trump,” he said, adding that closer alignment with the United States would benefit both countries economically and strategically.
World-renowned constitutional law expert Ilya Somin broke down all the issues for The U.S. Sun.
The Russian-born academic says the process would require multiple steps which could render the idea extremely difficult to pull off.
“So in order to make Venezuela a state, several things would have to happen that are extremely unlikely,” Somin said.
“First, he would have to get Congress to annex Venezuela and to make it a state. Very unlikely he could get congressional majorities for that in both houses.”
He added that even legislative approval would not be sufficient on its own.
“Second, and maybe even more difficult, he would have to actually take over the territory of Venezuela,” Somin said.
“And that could happen only by either the government of Venezuela agreeing to it or by the US conquering Venezuela.
“I suppose he could try to make some kind of agreement with the government of Venezuela. But that by itself would not be enough to make Venezuela a US territory, much less a state. You would need Congress to pass a law to do it.”
Even if those hurdles are overcome, fresh issues would arise.
“If you somehow get the Congress issues out of the way, there would be some questions about integrating the Venezuelan legal system into the United States, and dealing with the fact that we would now have something like 30 or 40 million new Spanish-speaking citizens,” Somin said.
“There would be some other practical difficulties as well.”
The removal of Maduro from power was welcomed by swathes of Venezuelans who had grown tired of the regime which had overseen dramatic economic decline, leading to food and medicine shortages among other myriad issues.
“I think it may well be that many Venezuelans might think that they’d be better off under US rule than under the regime that exists there now,” Somin, a Professor of Law at George Mason University, continued.
“But obviously we don’t know for sure. And regardless of that, the average Venezuelan is not in a position to make a decision on this right now. There is an authoritarian regime in power.”
Trump has also repeatedly raised the idea of acquiring Greenland from Denmark, reviving a proposal first discussed during his presidency.
He has argued that Greenland holds major strategic importance for the United States due to its position between North America and Europe and its proximity to Arctic and North Atlantic shipping routes.
He has pointed to increasing Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic as a key reason for strengthening its presence in the region.
The United States already operates a military base in Greenland, but Trump has said full control would significantly expand American capabilities in Arctic surveillance, missile defense and naval operations.
Greenland has a population of about 56,000 people, with most residents living along the southwestern coast due to the island’s ice-covered interior.
Trump’s comments about Greenland have been firmly rejected by the territory’s government, which has stated that it is not for sale and will not accept any form of takeover.
NATO officials have warned that any attempt to seize Greenland by force would severely damage transatlantic relations.
Somin agrees, stressing “I do think there you would also have the issue that trying to seize Greenland would alienate all of our allies even more than before.
“It would break the NATO alliance. It would damage the US standing in the world. That kind of consideration may be why Trump has so far backed down on this and not actually pushed on it.”
Denmark has increased its military presence around Greenland in response to rising geopolitical attention in the Arctic.
Greenland has been part of the Kingdom of Denmark for more than 300 years but gained home rule in 1979 and expanded autonomy under the 2009 Self-Government Act.
Trump has continued to argue that Greenland’s strategic position makes it increasingly important as global competition in the Arctic intensifies.
Trump has used Truth Social to hammer home his message
Over the years, multiple US presidents have supported the idea of expanding statehood through existing territories, most commonly Puerto Rico and Washington DC.
Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have expressed varying degrees of interest in pushing the issues forward.
Splitting California into two has also been mooted, while Trump has also suggested Canada would benefit from joining the United States for economic and security purposes.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16367706/trump-venezuela-greenland-united-states/
