Annexation 'Bluffet'

Drawn on December 19, 2024 | Published from Miami

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Annexation 'Bluffet'

Reducing Canada's sovereignty to little more than a midnight joke — calling it America's 51st state under leadership of a "governor" — may seem like a hysterically juvenile quip from the president-elect [1] [2]. However, when contextualized within tariff disputes [3], border tensions, and the Christian Nationalist forces surrounding Trump [more here], this unnerving gag distressingly parallels historical aspirations for a 1000-year Reich’s Lebensraum [more here].

"There's a certain capacity for appetite that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy."

— Samuel Hamilton, character in East of Eden, John Steinbeck, 1952.

Perhaps, like Germany’s Viennese pastry shortage driving Hitler to annex Austria or Putin’s debilitating craving for deep fried 'Kyivska Perepichka' hot dogs, the Mar-A-Lago buffet ran out of 'poutine,' leaving him to find inspiration in its empty dish, like a mystical fortune teller divining meaning from coffee stains at the bottom of a cup.

After all, judging by Trump's strongman ambitions to buy Greenland from Denmark [4] or his revisionist overtures to reclaim the Panama Canal [5], is it entirely far-fetched to think his whack job second-term government might look to militaristic land grabs?

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[1] Paternoster, T. (2024) Trump says Canadians want the country to become the ‘51st state’, euronews. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2024/12/19/trump-mocks-canada-as-leader-trudeau-faces-turmoil-over-tariff-dispute (Accessed: 19 December 2024).

"Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. "They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!" he added.

[2] Howard, A. (2024) Trump mocks Justin Trudeau calls him ‘governor of the Great State of Canada’, The Week. Available at: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2024/12/11/fgn10-us-trump-trudeau.html (Accessed: 19 December 2024).

“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT"

— Trump posted to Truth Social at 12:06 a.m.

[3] Press, T.A. (2024) Ontario to restrict electricity exports to U.S. and bar American-made alcohol if trump tariffs applied, MPR News. Available at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/12/ontario-premier-says-us-energy-exports-cut-off-if-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-canada (Accessed: 19 December 2024).

[4] Weissert, W. (2024) Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal, AP News. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-norway-panama-canal-canada-a52858e3075f9b5ad95e78753293fc1f (Accessed: December 2024).

[5] Weissert, W., Zamorano, J. and Fields, G. (2024) A history of the Panama Canal - and why Trump can’t take it back on his own, AP News. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/trump-panama-canal-roosevelt-treaties-1999-handover-8db28fd0249377a3f102cbb0a81e9356 (Accessed: December 2024).