In his first term, Trump pursued a quasi-isolationist foreign policy, yet during the 2024 campaign cycle, he publicly began suggesting expansions to U.S. territory. Between November and the inauguration, Trump openly discussed taking back the Panama Canal, purchasing Greenland from Denmark, and annexing Canada as the 51st state in the union. He has also expressed interest in invading Mexico to take on drug cartels directly.

WHY TRUMP IS LIKELY SO INTERESTED IN GREENLAND

The Washington Examiner granted nearly a dozen Trump administration officials, both current and former, anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking on those matters. While there was some disagreement over the veracity of Trump’s threats, there was consensus that the president’s strategy has not shifted from his first term.

In layman’s terms, Trump is keeping foreign leaders on their toes.

“At his core, President Trump is a disruptor. He sees how the status quo is unfavorable for America, and he’s going to act to change that,” one former Trump White House official said.

Foreign policy experts believe that despite Trump’s rhetoric, he won’t substantively alter U.S. foreign policy as operated under former President Joe Biden, especially the current aggressive stance on countering China.

“There will likely be far more continuity between the two administrations than meets the eye. Across administrations — even ones as different as those of Biden and Trump. Foreign policy is something like an iceberg. The visible portion is gleaming and jagged and draws much of the attention. Yet it also has a far bigger and underexamined foundation, one that tends to remain mostly unchanged,” explained Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security.

Fontaine conceded that Trump’s vocal posturing could help bring foreign leaders to the negotiating table.

“Even if an administration’s policy substance — as expressed in laws, strategy documents, international agreements, and the disposition of military forces — remains the same, it still, of course, has significant power to shake things up,” he continued. “A weakened, frightened Iran may well try to negotiate with the new team.”

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Greenland

Of the aforementioned bunch, Trump’s pursuit of Greenland seems to “have the most legs,” a former Trump national security aide said.

“This isn’t some off-the-cuff, after-midnight tweet,” the aide said, noting Trump’s attempts to purchase the island from Denmark during his first term. “Securing Greenland would give America a massive defense edge over China or Russia in the Arctic, and it’s brimming with natural resources.”

Before Trump’s inauguration, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, in January, where he held an impromptu MAGA meetup with local Trump supporters.

So far, lawmakers from Greenland and Denmark have said the island is not for sale. 

A Danish member of the European Parliament, Anders Vistisen, rejected Trump’s overtures in a profanity-filled speech during a European Union session this week.

“Dear President Trump, listen very carefully: Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for 800 years. It is an integrated part of our country,” he stated. “Mr. Trump, f*** off.”

European officials told the Financial Times that Trump had a fiery, 45-minute-long call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen prior to the inauguration, during which he expressed a “big interest” in purchasing Greenland.

“He was very firm. It was a cold shower,” one of the officials said. “Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious and potentially very dangerous.”

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Panama Canal

Two career State Department officials who focused on Asia during Trump’s first term told the Washington Examiner that the president’s comments regarding the Panama Canal, which Trump has said is being secretly operated by the Chinese Communist Party, are really about sending a message to Beijing rather than recouping the actual infrastructure. 

“President Trump has been laser-focused on countering China since Day One. Think of this as a warning shot to President Xi,” one official explained, noting that there is no evidence that the CCP is actually operating the canal as Trump claims. “I’d say that the president wants to make clear that he won’t let even rumors of attempted undermining of Western stability stand.”

“The previous administration kept Trump’s China policies in place for a reason: They’re the No. 1 threat to the U.S. right now,” the second official agreed. “Biden knew it. Trump knows it, and we should expect him to take an even more aggressive approach to countering Beijing during this second go-round.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of the toughest China hawks in Trump’s Cabinet, is planning a trip to Panama, which could happen as soon as next week.

“We won’t continue to ignore the region as other administrations have,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement. “Engaging with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing migration, supply chains, and economic growth, which are key to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of foreign policy focused on making America strong, prosperous, and safe.”

Rubio himself has suggested that Trump will pursue a slimmed-down foreign policy agenda.

“Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” he wrote in a memo outlining the administration’s mission statement.

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Canada and Mexico

When it comes to America’s southern and northern neighbors, six current and former Trump aides said the president is gaining “leverage” for both border security and trade debates. Others have suggested that Trump’s pursuit of 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico is similarly putting pressure on those respective countries to cooperate with the Trump administration’s migration policies.

However, three defense and national security officials do believe the president is “serious” about using military force against drug cartels.

One former Pentagon official, who retired after the president’s first term in office, cited Trump’s Day One executive order calling for the State Department to add cartels to its list of terrorist organizations, which possibly opens up pathways for military operations on foreign soil.

“This is an issue where Trump saw very little if any cooperation from Democrats,” that person said, noting the recent string of Democrats who have taken a more hawkish stance on border security. “Drugs. Human trafficking. This is an area where the president can likely afford to go beyond the policies of his first term, see real results, and not risk totally kicking the political hornet’s nest in the process.”

Two current White House officials called Trump’s musings about Canada a “prelude” to “tough negotiations” on trade and not a serious avenue he would pursue, but one aide said the president deserved credit for installing a new, possibly conservative government in the country. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid online sparring with Trump, announced his resignation earlier this year, and conservatives are expected to take power in the coming election.  

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Peace through strength

Trump described his collective foreign policy as “peace through strength” during his first term, and he has already revisited that theme in the several days since reentering office.

“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars we end and, perhaps most important, the wars we never get into,” the president said during a speech at one of his three inaugural balls Monday night.

Still, that philosophy is immediately being tested in two theaters where the president questioned the strategies of the previous administration: the war in Ukraine and the fallout from the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

Biden and Trump largely supported Israel’s monthslong retaliation campaign against Hamas, and both, to a degree, seemed to respond to pro-Palestinian sentiment during the latter half of last year and increased calls for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the fighting in Gaza quickly.

Trump’s advisers, specifically Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, joined the Biden team in negotiating the recently agreed-to ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Yet the president told reporters earlier this week that he was not “confident” the ceasefire would hold until mid-February, when the second stage of negotiations is scheduled to take place.

On Ukraine, Trump campaigned heavily on cutting back on the billions of dollars in security aid the Biden administration was supplying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to help fend off the Russian invasion.

Yet Zelensky, who met with Trump on multiple occasions following the 2024 election, reacted favorably to the foreign policy rhetoric in his inaugural address.

“President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin reversed course ahead of Trump’s inauguration and said he was now open to conducting peace talks regarding the Ukrainian conflict.

Trump told reporters Monday that he plans to meet with his Russian counterpart as soon as possible, something Biden did not do after the start of the war. However, the president followed that news up with threats Wednesday to place new sanctions and tariffs on Russia if Putin doesn’t end this “ridiculous war.”