United States President Donald Trump has declared that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” as he issued a series of provocative statements targeting multiple nations over the past two days, drawing sharp rebukes from governments across the globe.
The American leader’s remarks, delivered aboard Air Force One and in subsequent media appearances, have touched on issues ranging from territorial ambitions in Greenland to potential military interventions in Latin America and renewed threats against Iran, prompting immediate diplomatic responses from affected countries.
Greenland:
Trump reiterated on Sunday that the United States requires control of Greenland for national security purposes, citing what he described as increasing Russian and Chinese presence in the strategically located Arctic territory.
“We need Greenland. … It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
The remarks drew an immediate and strongly worded rejection from Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, who described the comments as “entirely unacceptable.”
“When the President of the United States speaks of ‘needing Greenland’ and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful,” Nielsen said in a statement. “Our country is not an object in great-power rhetoric. We are a people. A country. A democracy.”
Speaking at a subsequent press conference, Nielsen stressed that Greenland should not be compared to Venezuela and said there was no immediate concern about a takeover, while emphasizing the territory’s democratic status and right to self-determination.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in annexing Greenland, a vast, resource-rich island that remains a self-governing territory under Danish sovereignty. The American president has argued that acquiring Greenland is vital to US national and economic security interests, particularly as Arctic shipping routes become increasingly accessible due to climate change and competition for natural resources intensifies.
Both Greenland and Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States, have consistently and firmly opposed any notion of American acquisition of the territory. Denmark’s government has previously described such proposals as absurd and has reaffirmed Greenland’s right to determine its own future.
The territorial ambitions represent a contentious issue in transatlantic relations, with European allies expressing concern about the implications of such rhetoric for the established international order and respect for sovereignty.
Colombia:
Trump sharply criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday, describing him as “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” When asked whether the remarks suggested possible US military action in Colombia, Trump replied, “Sounds good to me.”
The extraordinary personal attack on a sitting head of state prompted a lengthy response from Petro, who took to the social media platform X to defend his administration’s record and highlight what he described as the largest cocaine seizure in history under his government.
Petro rejected Trump’s accusations categorically, saying he was neither illegitimate nor involved in drug trafficking, and stated that his only assets were his family home and his salary. The Colombian president also said his government has authorized targeted bombings against armed groups linked to the drug trade, while maintaining respect for international humanitarian law.
However, the rhetoric cannot obscure the reality that cocaine production in Colombia has reached record levels in recent years, according to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which tracks narcotics production globally. Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine, despite decades of US-backed eradication and interdiction efforts that have cost billions of dollars.
In a subsequent statement, Petro said he would personally defend Colombia if necessary, despite having previously sworn never to take up arms again following his earlier involvement in leftist guerrilla movements during Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict.
Relations between Petro, a former guerrilla fighter who became Colombia’s first leftist president, and the Trump administration have been notably strained. Petro’s US visa was reportedly canceled last year after he publicly urged American soldiers to disobey orders, a move that Washington viewed as inflammatory and inappropriate for a head of state.
The current tensions represent a significant deterioration in US-Colombian relations, which have traditionally been among the strongest in Latin America, built on decades of security cooperation, trade partnerships, and shared concerns about drug trafficking and regional stability.
Cuba: Regime
Trump said on Sunday that military intervention in Cuba was unnecessary, claiming the Communist-run island nation was “ready to fall” without external pressure.
“I don’t think we need any action,” Trump said. “It looks like it’s going down.” He added that Cuba had lost a major source of income following the collapse of Venezuelan oil support, which had sustained the Cuban economy for years.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American hardliner who has long advocated for regime change in Havana, described the Cuban government as “a huge problem,” warning that officials in the Cuban capital should be concerned about their future under potential American action.
At a rally held outside the US Embassy in Havana, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel vowed that Cuba would not abandon its alliance with Venezuela, saying the country was prepared to resist American pressure at a heavy cost. The demonstration was attended by thousands of government supporters in a show of defiance against Washington’s rhetoric.
Cuba has endured severe economic hardship in recent years, with chronic shortages of food, medicine, and fuel triggering the largest wave of emigration since the 1959 revolution. The economic crisis has been exacerbated by tightened US sanctions, the loss of Venezuelan oil subsidies, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the island’s tourism industry.
The United States has maintained a comprehensive economic embargo against Cuba for more than six decades, a policy that successive American administrations have defended as necessary to pressure the Communist government while critics argue has primarily harmed ordinary Cuban citizens.
Mexico:
Trump again accused Mexico of failing to adequately confront drug cartels, saying drugs were “pouring” across the shared border and warning that the United States would “have to do something” about the situation. He described the cartels as “very strong” and said Mexico needed to “get their act together.”
In an interview with Fox News, Trump revealed that he had asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum whether she wanted US military assistance to combat the powerful criminal organizations that have plagued Mexico for decades and contributed to tens of thousands of deaths annually.
Sheinbaum firmly rejected the idea, reiterating Mexico’s categorical opposition to US intervention in Venezuela and emphasizing her country’s long-standing constitutional principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations.
“Mexico categorically rejects intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” Sheinbaum said in a statement. She also defended Mexico’s cooperation with the United States on drug control efforts, particularly initiatives aimed at stopping fentanyl from reaching young people in both countries.
Sheinbaum dismissed the likelihood of US military action on Mexican soil, saying she did not believe Washington was seriously considering such a move and that such rhetoric was more political posturing than genuine policy intention.
Mexico has struggled for years to contain the violence and corruption associated with drug trafficking organizations, which have evolved into sophisticated criminal enterprises controlling territories, infiltrating government institutions, and contributing to a climate of impunity that has undermined rule of law in many parts of the country.
The bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexico is among the most complex and consequential in the world, encompassing trade worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually, shared security challenges, migration management, and deep cultural and familial ties between the two nations.
Iran:
Trump also renewed warnings toward Iran amid ongoing anti-government protests now in their second week across the Islamic Republic.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump said on Sunday. He added that if peaceful protesters were killed, the US was “locked and loaded” to respond with military force.
An Iranian human rights group estimated that at least 16 people have been killed during the protests so far, though the figure could not be independently verified by international observers, as Iran has restricted media access and internet connectivity in affected areas.
Trump also warned Iran against rebuilding its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, saying the United States would respond forcefully if Tehran resumed such activities following previous setbacks to its nuclear infrastructure. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded by saying the country would not yield to its enemies and called for security forces to deal firmly with protesters.
The warnings come months after US strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities during Israel’s brief war with Iran last year, an attack that effectively destroyed significant portions of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure and ended stalled US-Iran negotiations over the country’s nuclear ambitions.
The current unrest in Iran marks the latest episode in periodic waves of anti-government protests that have challenged the Islamic Republic’s theocratic system over the past decade. Previous protest movements, including the 2009 Green Movement, the 2019 fuel price protests, and the 2022 women’s rights demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini, were met with violent crackdowns that resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.
The United States and Iran have been adversaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed Shah and brought to power a clerical regime hostile to American influence in the Middle East. Relations have been marked by decades of mutual mistrust, proxy conflicts, economic sanctions, and periodic military confrontations.
Trump’s sweeping statements represent a significant escalation in American rhetoric toward multiple nations simultaneously and signal what appears to be a more assertive and confrontational foreign policy approach. The comments have raised concerns among international observers about the potential for miscalculation and unintended consequences in an already volatile global environment.
The declarations of American dominance in the Western Hemisphere evoke historical echoes of the Monroe Doctrine, the 19th-century US foreign policy principle that opposed European colonialism in the Americas and asserted American primacy in the region. However, critics argue that such rhetoric is increasingly anachronistic in a multipolar world where Latin American nations jealously guard their sovereignty and resist external interference.
The coordinated pushback from affected governments demonstrates the limited appetite for American unilateralism among nations that have historically been within Washington’s sphere of influence. The responses suggest that even traditional US allies and partners are increasingly willing to publicly challenge American positions when they perceive their sovereignty or dignity to be threatened.
