So now it’s out in the open: the “Don-roe” Doctrine. Trump portrays the invasion of Venezuela an update on the 19th century Monroe Doctrine. Nope. It’s just a gangster shakedown applied to global relations. Donald Trump is a klepto-criminal, a man whose career was made through his ties with Russian mob money. He just isn’t hiding his intentions anymore. At the press conference following the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife, he bragged that he was sending a message to the world.
“American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
This invasion had nothing to do with toppling an unpopular regime or restoring democracy. Trump said he will not allow the democratic opposition of Venezuela to assume power. Despite blowing up boats and murdering people in the water, it had nothing to do with dealing with drugs. Remember how Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras for drug running?
This was about taking control of the nation’s resources.
“We will secure our borders. We will stop the terrorists. We will defend our citizens against all threats foreign and domestic… This operation should serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty.”
Venezuela posed no threat to American sovereignty unless Trump was attempting to claim that Venezuelan oil belonged by right to the United States.
Welcome to the age of gangster fascism.
Long before Trump noticed Venezuela, he was establishing a narrative of Canada that portrayed us a drug/terrorist threat to the United States.
FBI director Kash Patel warned of the need to protect the US border from hundreds of terrorists coming from Canada. Not true.
Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem has claimed that the “northern” border was a funnel for criminal gangs from El Salvador. Not true.
Trump tried to portray Canada for being a global fentanyl threat. Not true. He claimed that fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction – you know what that means.
Over the last year, I have working hard to explain how such language is being used to further a new kind of political ideology of shakedown and menace. I called it gangster fascism.
Ben Meiselas host of the Meidas Touch, stated that the reason he began interviewing me was because I was the first public figure to use the term. I’m not sure if that is correct but I have been warning that this combination of criminal kleptocracy and the authoritarian dismantling of the rule of law has made Trump 2.0 a serious danger on our border.
It is the danger posed by a gangster fascist regime.
Interestingly, as soon as I began to drop the F-bomb (fascism) in public I found myself ghosted by Canada’s national media. It has been almost a year that I was last invited on one of the CBC or CTV panel discussions.
Listening to the evening panel discussions with the bright talking heads who parse politics in our country you would think that Trump was just being Trump and that there were more important things to focus on such as the latest poll numbers about Pierre Poilievre months after the election was over.
One night coming back from a concert in Toronto I was on a packed subway and ran into two parliament hill journalists. For six subway stops they hit me with question after question about why I was using this kind of language and what I thought I was trying to achieve.
I finally asked them why they were so interested in my work given that I was never interviewed on any of their shows.
“Well, what if you are wrong?” one journalist said boldly.
I replied, “Wrong? I hope and pray that I am wrong. But you wouldn’t be peppering me with questions at midnight on a packed subway car if you thought I wrong.”
Yes, I really wish I was wrong. But the invasion of Venezuela is a manifestation of this gangster ideology.
But in watching the Trump press conference I can see how the Don-roe Doctrine crash and burn.
Trump’s global designs will fail through hubris, overreach and sheer bombastic aghast. His arrogance and lack of historical perspective is a crack that runs through everything in MAGA. As Leonard Cohen reminds us, “there is a crack in everything and that’s how the light gets in.”
For example, he thinks that shakedown and insult makes the United States strong. He fails to recognize that traditional diplomatic power of the United States is a much more compelling lever.
Traditionally, Canada would do almost anything to avoid a confrontation with the United States. It would meant a careful dance of coded diplomatic language with our much larger neighbour. Compromise would eventually found. But Trump’s relentless insults and denigration of our national character have taken away those options.
When he pushed the Canadian people into the corner, we came out swinging and we have been taking the fight to the MAGA economy ever since.
And we are now much tougher than we were just a year ago. Canada is the front line in the resistance to the MAGA ideology.
As for our western allies? Previously, they would bend themselves into pretzels to avoid a confrontation with the United States. But Donald Trump is forcing them to find serious backbone. On the day that Venezuela was invaded Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller posted an image of Greenland draped in the stars and stripes and boasted “SOON.”
NATO, the western allies, Asia are learning that there is no choice but to stand up to the bully.
Trump brags that kidnapping Maduro is sending a message to the world. He has but it is not the message he thought. This is a nation that is more isolated and weaker than ever. The rest of the world is pulling away and working hard to build resilient alliances.
As for Venezuela?
Good luck trying to run a country with the express purpose of stealing their resources. Trump given the Venezuelan people no choice but to resist. His gang of loud mouths haven’t thought the implications of occupying a country that refuses to bend to his will. The long-term implications for the United States will not be good.
There is no going back from this moment. I really wish I was wrong about the nature of the threat, but I am confident that this threat can be faced down. Trump has stripped away the mask. We see American power as it is – a shakedown kleptocracy. Canadians will do what we must do to resist.
I encourage the Prime Minister to move on the promise of a 300,000-person civilian defence force. I know Canadians will continue holding the line. We can build on the boycott and with our democratic allies increase the pressure MAGA. They didn’t expect the little guy who fight back but then Trump has no idea of our long history standing up to fascists. FAFO.
We will survive one day longer than the gangster and with the incredible solidarity we have shown, we will emerge one day stronger.
