Action 10 - Stop Trump’s threatening Panama, Greenland, Canada & Mexico
Donald Trump has repeatedly said he thinks the US should take back the Panama
Canal from Panama and seize Greenland from Denmark. He won’t rule out the use of military force to reach these ends. He has even said on several occasions that Canada should become part of the US. And he has toyed with the possibility of invading Mexico.
Even coming from Trump these are alarming threats, not only because he ran as an anti-intervention isolationist but because they threaten the current world order that has been the foundation of international peace and stability since WWII despite extended periods of political conflict and full-blown regional hostilities from time to time.
It is worth noting that Denmark and Canada are both members of NATO, the centerpiece of that international order. Canada and Mexico are also our largest trading partners as well as being our friends and neighbors. We returned ownership of the Canal to Panama under a treaty agreement under Jimmy Carter. We have numerous treaties with all four countries which would be violated by hostile unilateral action against any of them on our part. It should be remembered that under the Constitution treaties endorsed by Congress become the supreme law of the land. Violating those treaties without Congressional sanction would constitute major infractions of US Constitutional law.
We need to ask our congressional delegation to voice their opposition to this violent rhetoric from Trump and, more importantly to any violent aggression against countries with whom we have peaceful relations and treaty obligations.
Our Senators need to use the leverage available to them to push this point. They can inform Trump that they will hold no confirmation hearings on cabinet appointments until he ceases such aggressive, destabilizing rhetoric and acknowledges in writing that unilateral treaty violations by his administration, especially acts of war, would, in the absence of prior Congressional authorization, constitute serious infractions of US law warranting impeachment.
Please call:
Susan Collins (202) 224-2523
Angus King (202) 224-5344
Jared Golden
Share your concern. Ask that they share that concern with their colleagues in Congress and publicly voice their strong opposition to Trump’s destabilizing rhetoric and behavior toward our allies as it puts our country in extreme peril. If you want to go further, express your personal fear and anxiety at this emergent threat. They need to know that constituents feel threatened and will hold them accountable if they do nothing to ward off this threat while they still can.