Trump's Favorite New Theme: 'Imperialism'

As he prepares to return to the White House, President-elect Trump has floated the idea of the US taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal, not to mention needling Canada about becoming the 51st US state. A look at related coverage:

• No joke: OK, disregard the Canada comments, which were made with a "trolling jocularity," write David E. Sanger and Lisa Friedman in a New York Times analysis. But Trump is serious about Greenland (an ever-more strategic locale as Arctic ice melts) and Panama (because of worries that China is gaining too much sway over the canal).
• No joke, II: Trump may use an "America First" motto, but that doesn't translate to an "isolationist creed," they write in the Times. It's more an expansionist one, and "it reflects the instincts of a real estate developer who suddenly has the power of the world's largest military to back up his negotiating strategy."

• Historic reach: If Trump is indeed serious, it would translate to "an American territorial expansion" that "would rival the Louisiana Purchase or the deal that netted Alaska from Russia," writes Steve Contorno at CNN. His analysis also draws a comparison to "the 19th century doctrine of Manifest Destiny—a belief in the United States' divine right to expand across the continent." Contorno finds it a striking view from a president-elect who has advocated a pullback from American intervention in foreign wars.
• Mexico, too: Rolling Stone reports that the incoming Trump administration is planning what one source close to the president-elect describes as a "soft invasion" of Mexico. That could mean, for example, sending in special-ops military personnel to take out cartel leaders—fulfillment of a Trump campaign pledge to wage "war" against cartels flooding the US with drugs. "How much should we invade Mexico?" says a senior member of the transition team. "That is the question."
• The i-word: Assessing all of the above, Dave Lawler at Axios writes that "America First is colliding with American imperialism," adding that "no one, including Trump, really knows how it will all play out." For context, he notes that Trump often says "wild stuff" without acting on it, but as president-elect, his proposals cannot be ignored.

(More President-elect Trump stories.)