When the leader of the world’s most influential democracy declares, “My own morality. My own mind [is] the only thing that can stop me” when asked about the limits of his global military powers, it signals a dangerous shift. At the expense of his country’s constitution and international law, such rhetoric raises fears that a third world war under his tenure may be less a possibility than an inevitability.
If Venezuela and Iran—neither central to President Donald Trump’s campaign promises—have already become flashpoints, what assurance is there that other contentious issues such as Canada, the Panama Canal, or Denmark’s Greenland are off the table? Sources familiar with the happenings in Washington D.C told Bavijas that military operations in Cuba, Mexico, or even Greenland could be next.
Recent White House rhetoric on Greenland has alarmed Europe, suggesting that the era of a rule‑based world order is ending and that America is becoming a less reliable ally. Trump told the New York Times that “it may be a choice” for Washington between controlling Greenland and maintaining NATO.
Both Greenland and Denmark have rejected Trump’s proposal to buy or seize the mineral‑rich territory. In a joint statement, leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK, and Denmark insisted “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any military attempt to take Greenland would mark the end of NATO.
Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer said the development undermines the single world order system America has spent decades building. While the Kremlin may view this as a strategic win, Moscow faces its own challenges, with regimes loyal to it—such as Assad’s Syria and Maduro’s Venezuela—coming under increasing pressure from Washington.
Meanwhile, President Putin has made reaching a peace deal in Ukraine, now entering its fourth year of war, a difficult task. Some say it is the strongman’s strategic agenda to keep his ego.
Elsewhere, reports indicate that an Iranian warship will sail alongside BRICS vessels in a routine military drill off South Africa’s Cape Coast. The move unsettles many South Africans, given Trump’s military show in Tehran last year and already strained relations between Johannesburg and Washington.
South Africa’s defence department said the navies were only gathering for “an intensive programme of joint maritime safety operations, interoperability drills and maritime protection serials” to safeguard shipping and economic activities, without specifying which nations were involved.
John Stupart of Daily Maverick said “I would not bet on an American escapade in South Africa just yet. Cuba and Greenland are very much first on the call sheet. Rather than invite despotic nations to sail with us, perhaps South Africa would do better to keep our bloody noses clean and heads down.” The weeklong drill, which began Friday, is being led by China, a major rival that the US dreads so much.