US President Donald Trump hints at future targets after Venezuela, naming Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico and Iran in a series of warnings.
WASHINGTON: An emboldened US President Donald Trump has hinted he has other countries in his sights after toppling Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Trump took aim at Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico and Iran in a single half-hour exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
He openly campaigned for last year’s Nobel peace prize and has scorned interventionism, but now says he is enforcing Washington’s right to act in its backyard.
In the days since the Venezuela operation, Trump has doubled down on his desire to annex Greenland from Denmark.
“Trump has given us a long list of potential future conquests — but the most likely target of his administration will be Greenland,” Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.
Trump insists Washington needs the mineral-rich, semi-autonomous territory for national security reasons.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned any move to take Greenland by force could mean the end of the US-led NATO military alliance.
Colombia has been the target of Trump’s most hardline threats, with the US leader warning leftist President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass.”
Trump accuses Petro of being in league with drug traffickers, just as he did with Maduro before his capture.
Petro responded on Monday that he was ready to “take up arms” in the face of Trump’s threats.
Trump claimed on Sunday that Cuba, an enduring US foe and ally of Venezuela, was “ready to fall.”
He predicted military action would not be necessary, believing the sanctions-hit nation could not survive the loss of subsidised Venezuelan oil.
Trump told Mexico on Sunday it had to “get their act together,” following months of pressure over drugs and trade.
He said he was pushing President Claudia Sheinbaum to let him send US troops to tackle drug cartels in Mexico.
Sheinbaum pushed back on Monday against US claims of dominance, saying the Americas “do not belong” to any power.
Iran faced US strikes against its nuclear program in June and is now under renewed pressure from Trump for clamping down on protests.
Trump warned on Sunday that Tehran would “get hit very hard” if more demonstrators were killed.
Aydintasbas, however, warned against Trump getting “too trigger happy.”
“Right now he seems to be enjoying the moment of imperial presidency,” she said. “But if things start going south either in Venezuela or the Middle East, we’re going to see President Trump very quickly lose interest in this role.”
