The Politics of Plunder

The Politics of Plunder
Trump’s domestic and foreign policies have one consistent theme.



WILL SALETAN, CATHY YOUNG, ANDREW EGGER, SAM STEIN, AND JIM SWIFT



DEC 26

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MAGA Christmas was a choose-your-own-adventure affair this year. Did you want to hear Donald Trump wax eloquent, in what is definitely his own writing, about “the graces of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection” that “pour out on all who believe”? Just head over to his “Presidential Message on Christmas,” posted to the White House website. Are you the sort who found all that a little pious and drab? You might find Trump’s Truth Social message a little more your speed:




Joy to the World! Happy Friday.



President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve at his Mar-a-lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
The President Is a Pirate

by Will Saletan

Donald Trump calls himself the “Peace President.” But this week, as he outlined his plans to capture Greenland and hijack Venezuelan oil, his real agenda became obvious. It’s not peace. It’s extortion, conquest, and theft.

Trump spent his life pursuing wealth, not public service. As president, he reduces every question to money. He arm-twists companies into giving the government a chunk of their stock. He withholds food stamps as a bargaining chip. He calls low-income housing an offense against rich people. He muses about awarding himself $1 billion from the Treasury.

He treats international relations the same way. He slaps our allies with heavy tariffs, insisting that they “pay for the privilege of access to our market.” He bails out Argentina, meddles in its election, and then brags that his candidate’s victory “made a lot of money for the United States.” He bars immigrants from “third world countries” and sells visas to multimillionaires instead.

He also exploits war. Two months ago, in a speech to American troops in Japan, he fondly recalled the days when “they used to say, ‘To the victor belong the spoils.’” In more recent wars, he complained, “We’d win, and then we’d leave.” He made it clear that he would restore the doctrine of spoils. “Unlike past administrations, we will not be politically correct,” he told the troops.

In some parts of the world, Trump has cashed in on the use of force by other countries. In February, after Israel had leveled much of Gaza, he announced a plan to seize the territory, “own it,” and develop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” A reporter asked the president whether he truly meant permanent occupation. “I do see a long-term ownership position,” Trump replied.

In Ukraine, Trump has taken advantage of Russia’s invasion. By choking off Ukraine’s access to military aid and intelligence, he extracted Kiev’s agreement to give much of its mineral wealth to the United States. “I made a deal to take rare earth,” he boasted. “That’s the equivalent of much more” than the aid Joe Biden had sent to Ukraine, he said.

Trump also found a second revenue stream from the war: selling weapons to NATO—at “full price”—which NATO would then deliver to Ukraine. “We’re making money,” he told reporters. “We have the hottest company,” he added a minute later. Then, catching his slip, he corrected the last word to “country.”

Like Vladimir Putin, Trump has concocted grievances to justify aggression against other nations. In his inaugural address, he vowed to seize the Panama Canal, claiming that Panama had violated its 1977 agreement to keep the canal neutral. Then, in a bid to annex Canada, he threatened to choke off that country’s foreign trade. To rationalize his coercion, he alleged that Canada “stole” its auto industry from the United States.

Now Trump has deployed the Navy, the Coast Guard, and other forces to harass and intimidate Venezuela. Last week, he issued an ultimatum, warning that the military buildup would continue until Venezuelans “return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Trump’s tales of oil and land theft apparently date to 1976, when Venezuela nationalized its oil industry. As usual, he’s wrong—American companies didn’t own any of Venezuela’s land or oil—but he’s plotting to capitalize on his propaganda. On Monday he said he had spoken to “all the big” U.S. oil companies about returning to Venezuela once the current government, under American pressure, is ousted.

And oil companies aren’t the only ones who stand to profit. Last week, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a Trump ally, introduced legislation authorizing “private American citizens and their businesses” to confiscate boats and other alleged property of drug cartels.

Meanwhile, after months of hectoring Greenland to separate from Denmark and join the United States—under threats of tariffs and military force—Trump announced on Monday that he had appointed a special envoy whose self-described assignment was to “make Greenland a part of the U.S.” Trump dismissed Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland, scoffing, “They say that Denmark was there 300 years ago or something with a boat. Well, we were there with boats, too, I’m sure.”

This isn’t the foreign policy many of Trump’s voters wanted. They thought “America First” meant staying home. Instead, Trump has gone abroad to seize land and treasure. He’s a pirate. And being a pirate is all fun and games until somebody loses an island.