From Caracas to Minneapolis, the threat is the same - an American president ruling like a global emperor

[babylonsister]

From Caracas to Minneapolis, the threat is the same – an American president ruling like a global emperor
Jonathan Freedland
Trump’s admission that he recognises no constraint outside his own morality was a horrifying moment of truth. It should galvanise all those who oppose him
Fri 9 Jan 2026 12.24 EST


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These two fronts are more alike than they might seem. The common thread is rule by fear. Trump’s aim in Venezuela has been to remove Maduro and hope that fear will do the rest. No need for a boots-on-the-ground occupation or “second wave” military assault; no need even for regime change. Removal of the man at the top should be enough to intimidate Maduro’s erstwhile henchmen, and especially his chief henchwoman, into doing the US’s bidding, starting with the handover of its oil industry.

What’s more, fear is contagious. Cuba has most reason to be anxious, but Trump also warned Colombia’s leader to “watch his ass”, while signalling that he is considering airstrikes on Mexico, aimed at drug cartels he says are now running that country. The mere threat of a repeat of last weekend’s action on Venezuela may well be enough to bring the rest of the Americas to heel.

That fear reaches across the Atlantic. Trump’s desire for Greenland was once dismissed as a punchline, but after Venezuela no one is laughing. Now we know that Trump’s words are the best guide to his future actions: if he says he wants something, he may well take it. In truth, the US’s European allies have been governed by fear since the day 11 months ago when Trump humiliated Volodymr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office: they worry that if they stand up to the bully in the White House, the bully will turn on them. Specifically, they fear that if they complain about Trump’s designs on Greenland, he will pull the plug on US support for Ukraine.

But, to Trump, fear is not only a commodity for export. It is how he rules at home too. Much has been made of his campaign of intimidation of US institutions, from the media to the universities to the courts. Rather less attention has been paid to his efforts to intimidate the American public, to make ordinary US citizens frightened of their own government.

But that is where we are now....

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/09/caracas-minneapolis-american-president-donald-trump-global-emperor