What the History of American Expansion Can Tell Us About Trumps Threats Mother Jones [Video]

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The president-elect—who pushed for an invasion of Mexico during his first term—has spent the month leading up to next week’s inauguration posting about inviting Canada to join the United States, refusing to rule out using military force to coerce Denmark into selling (or giving away) Greenland, and pledging to take back the Panama Canal Zone—which the United States gave back as part of a 1979 treaty. Republicans and their allies have quickly fallen in line. Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr. recently took a day trip to Greenland. Some conservatives have likened the threatened acquisitions to the Alaska and the Louisiana Purchase. 

Is this just a tired throwback to the country’s empire-building past, or a recognition of something new? To understand Trump’s recent rhetoric, I spoke with Daniel Immerwahr, a professor of history at Northwestern University, whose …