Trump’s moves create uncertainty all over the world

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has dubbed the current global situation "The New World Disorder" and described how this has manifested itself. "The facts on the ground reveal a humanitarian system overwhelmed when it is needed most. Conflict is escalating dramatically, compounded by climate change and entrenched poverty, while global aid funding has collapsed,” the IRC wrote.

The wrecker-in-chief is erratic, independent-minded, aggressive Donald Trump who has used the US presidency to create chaos where there were international laws and regulations which formerly provided a minimum of sanity and security for most if not all nations and peoples. To make matters worse, US’ European allies have hesitated to correct him as he could turn against and damage them. This has unsettled European leaders over the future of NATO. They fear that US can no longer be considered a reliable partner and this has forced them to consider fresh steps to bolster Western defences.

Trump’s initial backing for Russia in its war in Ukraine has also created major uncertainty in Europe and the NATO alliance. One reason for this stand was Trump’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has since embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his efforts to end the war without ceding territory to Russia.

Trump has disturbed the international order by demanding control of Greenland which is an autonomous territory associated with Denmark and the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51st US state. As he has not ruled out the use of the US military to achieve his ends, his statements have created both uncertainty and animosity.

"We do need Greenland, absolutely," Trump told The Atlantic. "We need it for defence, "Greenland is a strategic Arctic island, rich in natural resources. The US already has 150-200 military personnel stationed at Thule Air Base but has called for increasing the deployment and installing radars in the island's waters between Greenland, Iceland, and Britain. The island also has rare earth minerals essential for high-tech industries. The island's population, which rejects US control and opts for independence from Denmark, also opposes extensive mining.

Trump has criticised the 1999 US transfer to Panama of control of the Panama Canal and has castigated high tariffs charged by the canal company. The canal is a man-made 82-kilometre waterway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. It cuts across the narrowest point of the isthmus of Panama and facilitates an estimated 2.5 per cent of global sea trade and 40 per cent of all US container ship traffic. Trump has accused Panama of mismanaging the canal and enabling China to take part in its operations.

Canada has rejected a US take-over. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly emphasized Canada’s sovereignty and independence while 90 per cent Canadians oppose US annexation.

Following the US abduction of Venezuela's de facto President Nicolás Maduro, Trump has intimated that other Latin American leaders might be next. While accusing Maduro of repression and involvement in the drug trade, Trump revealed the real reason for intervening in Venezuela when he said his administration would control its oil production, sales and revenue. Trump said the US would receive as many as 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, which would be valued at about $2.5 billion.

Trump has suggested military action in Colombia to destroy its cocaine factories to disrupt drug production and has mentioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, once an ally of Maduro, as a target. Trump has also threatened Mexico which he blames for large-scale smuggling into the US of fentanyl, a deadly man-made drug produced in China which enters the US via Mexico. Trump has claimed Canada is also a conduit.

Since Iran has been gripped with mass protests since December 28th, Trump has warned Tehran that the US was "locked and loaded and ready" to intervene in Iran over demonstrator deaths. If Iran "violently kills protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue," Trump wrote on his Truth Social. In defiance of longstanding custom that countries' leaders are untouchable, he also vowed to kill Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei if violent suppression continued. Last June the US bombed Iran during an unprovoked 12-day war launched by Israel to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities which were not, as Israel and the US claimed, meant to manufacture nuclear bombs.

Trump has given Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a greenlight over Gaza, which Israel has bombed without mercy since October 2023 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 251 Israelis and visitors. Due to Israel’s conduct of this conflict, it has been characterised as a "genocide" against Palestinians and the International Court (ICC) has issued warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Trump has castigated the ICC, demonstrating clearly that in his view international law does not apply to US allies, especially Israelis.

In December, Trump ordered airstrikes and ground operations in Syria after the killing of two American soldiers by Daesh near Palmyra. Syrian troops backed by US troops then killed seven Daesh members and captured 25 during 11 missions. Instead of beefing up US forces to deal with Daesh remnants, Trump has said he would reduce the number of US soldiers stationed in eastern Syria from the current 1,000. The original deployment was 2,000. This decision has demonstrated once again Trump’s enigmatic, contradictory character which produces his curious responses to challenges.

Trump has not only shuttered the US Agency for International Development (US AID) but also reduced US contributions to humanitarian agencies which care for the neediest across the world. While the US had previously provided 38 per cent of funding amounting to $14.1 billion, this has been slashed to $2 billion for UN programmes while emergency funding will be given to specific countries considered friendly to the US.