It is difficult to pick out the strangest proposal from former and future US President Donald Trump. But his repeated claims that he wants to send the U.S. military to Mexico to fight drug cartels may be what worries Canadians the most.
Trump raised the idea a few times during his presidency, mostly behind closed doors with senior military leaders. Now that he is running for a second term, he has not only mentioned this publicly, but has also found support among several other Republican politicians.
Some of their proposals suggest that U.S. military action would be in collaboration with the Mexican government, but others make no mention of this at all.
In particular, none of them say what would happen if the Mexican government said, “No, I’m sorry, we don’t want Americans flying planes, firing missiles, and sending armed troops into our country!”
Many countries struggle with the concept of borders and sovereignty, but few have as steep a learning curve in this regard as the United States.
As early as the mid-19th century, some American politicians were pushing the concept of “manifest destiny,” the idea that the United States was destined to take over a large portion of North America. In practice, this led to the purchase of Alaska from Russia, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican-American War, as well as arguments that the U.S. should eventually conquer all of Mexico.
Mexico has long been a contested territory for American politicians. For some, it exists out of toleration.
This should be of particular concern to Canadians because we are in the same boat.
Manifest Destiny also famously led to President James Polk’s 1844 election slogan: “54°40′ or fight!” He referred to America taking over a large portion of what is now British Columbia up to the 54th parallel. That would have left the U.S.-Canada border west of the Rocky Mountains somewhere north of Haida Gwaii.
If Trump takes office again, will cooler heads prevail? Or will American Marines storm cartel labs, with or without permission from the Mexican government?
It should be a major concern for Canada.
Each country represents its own national interests, and that means there are countless sources of tension between allies and trading partners, too.
Think of the decades-long battles we have had with the United States over softwood lumber tariffs or our dairy and poultry supply management systems, or Canada’s refusal to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump has made scrapping NAFTA one of his signature policies, and he isn’t a big fan of NATO either.
I’m not saying that even under Trump the US government would invade Canada because they’re mad that we’re selling too many cheap two-by-fours.
But having an immediate neighbor who doesn’t care about the sovereignty of its allies should worry our leaders and they should expect the worst.
ALSO READ: PAINFUL TRUTH: The rain is finally returning