Donald Trump’s tough saying: “Buy Greenland!” Take back the Panama Canal! – triggers resistance among many Republican rebels

Donald Trump says it is “an absolute necessity” for our country to own Greenland.

He says the U.S. should retake the Panama Canal unless “ridiculous” shipping fees are reduced.

He threatened that any Republican who opposed him on the bill to avoid a government shutdown could and should be voted into the primary.

The president-elect is earning his reputation as a troublemaker who has enough influence within his current party to blow up carefully negotiated bipartisan compromises. Let’s look at each of them.

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Trump tried in his first term to buy Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark but is self-governing. This went nowhere, but sparked a diplomatic crisis with Danish officials.

While the United States was building the Panama Canal in the early 20th century, it was handed over to Panama under a treaty approved by both countries. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino says: “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone belongs to Panama and will continue to be so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are non-negotiable.”

However, that didn’t stop Trump from releasing an AI image of an American flag flying over a waterway believed to be the canal.

The new president has undoubtedly demonstrated the ability to pose primary challenges to those who get in his way. But three dozen conservative Republicans voted against him on the government shutdown bill, including in its final passage that dropped his call to scrap the debt ceiling during his term. Would he really organize primaries against them all?

So the overwhelming likelihood is that the status of Greenland, the Panama Canal and the rebellious Republicans will not change in the second term.

The reason Trump is doing this is because it reinforces his role as a troublemaker, someone who takes on the decrepit Washington establishment, even though a president is, by definition, the new establishment.

President-elect Donald Trump shows at AmericaFest on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Furthermore, whether he makes outrageous demands or not, Trump shapes and dominates the news agenda. As the 47th President admitted to me, he sometimes crosses the line because he knows it will provoke a strong media reaction. From Trump’s perspective, even negative coverage is good coverage because the press plays on his turf.

And sometimes these are just negotiating positions to achieve concessions, such as the threatened 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico.

Remember that most people outside the media-political complex are not breathlessly following these developments. Since the government hasn’t actually shut down, they don’t see it as a setback for Trump that he didn’t get most of what he wanted. You probably don’t remember that he tried to buy Greenland before.

Trump clearly has the power to blow up carefully crafted bipartisan agreements. He did it after Speaker Mike Johnson – whose own future is in doubt because, like Kevin McCarthy before him, he lacked the necessary votes – allowed the bill to grow into a Christmas tree monstrosity.

And he did it during the campaign, when both parties agreed to a tough border control agreement that was then scuttled by Trump’s objections.

But there are clearly limits to what Trump can do, especially with the country. That three dozen Republicans are challenging him on an issue as fundamental as the debt ceiling shows he can only push his party so far.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, a Trump supporter who voted against him when it was last passed, told me on Media Buzz on Sunday that she wants to keep the debt ceiling in place.

But with the GOP clinging to a one-vote lead in the House for now, the cauldron of campaign rhetoric is running into the cold, hard math of getting to the number 218.

Democrats need to ask themselves whether it’s worth negotiating with the other party if it’s just creating a target for Trump’s demolition derby.

It was Elon Musk who first tweeted about how bad the original bill was – at Trump’s suggestion – and after over 70 tweets (including some falsehoods), the new president was dragged into the fray.

BUTLER, PA – OCT. 5: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks with former President Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show on Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. ((Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images))

Over the weekend, Trump denied that he had ceded his presidential powers to his billionaire pal and half-mockingly said Musk could never be president:

“Do you know why? He was not born in this country. Hahaha.”

A popular media game is the question of whether there will be a fight between the two strong-willed men at some point.

For now, though, Trump’s tough talk about Greenland and the Panama Canal shows he’s most comfortable on the offensive, even if not much comes of it.

In other news:

— House ethics report says Matt Gaetz “regularly” paid women for sex, including with an underage girl, and used illegal drugs.

In 2017, the former candidate for attorney general had “sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl,” which was also paid.

Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy “on multiple occasions” and also accepted lucrative gifts such as transportation and lodging in the Bahamas.

“It was clear to many of the women interviewed by the committee that there was a general expectation of sex,” with one woman telling the committee that Gaetz paid her more than $5,000 and that sex was a factor “99 percent of the time.” have played.

The panel said Gaetz was “uncooperative” and “knowingly and willfully attempted to obstruct and obstruct the committee’s investigation of his conduct.” The Justice Department investigated but did not file charges.

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Gaetz also misused House resources when he had his chief of staff “help a woman with whom he had sexual activity obtain a passport by falsely informing the State Department that she was a voter…”

“There was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct, engaging in prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, accepting improper gifts, granting special favors and privileges, and obstructing Congress forbid.” “

If Gaetz had still been in the running for AG, that would have blown him out of the water.

Gaetz says: “I have not been accused of anything: COMPLETELY DISCLAIMED. Not even a campaign finance violation. There was no cross-examination or challenge from me or my lawyers. I was never charged. He says he even sent money to women he wasn’t dating.

— A dogged Dallas Express reporter has discovered what happened to Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who went “missing” months ago. He found her in a care facility that specializes in dementia and other memory problems and received confirmation on file. She released a statement on health challenges that completely missed the point: How could she not tell her constituents? Why did she insist on hiding it? There would have been enormous sympathy for her. Instead, the congresswoman kept everything secret.

–Actress Blake Lively has been the target of an online smear campaign, reflected in texts and emails that blatantly discuss spreading stories aimed at destroying her reputation. At the same time, it is pointed out that this must remain secret because they would not be able to easily admit that they were trying to “bury” her. “You know we can bury anyone.”

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively (David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images/Lia Toby/Getty Images)

Lively obtained these documents through legal action against her co-star and director Justin Baldoni and were reviewed by The New York Times. She alleges sexual harassment and says Baldoni and others regularly came to her trailer unannounced when she was topless, such as to have her body makeup removed or to breastfeed.

The Wayfarer studio said the company and its PR people “took no proactive or retaliatory action” against the actress and accused her of “yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.”

Lively says Baldoni tried to add unnecessary sex scenes, improvised unwanted kisses and discussed his sex life, including instances in which he may not have received consent. Another member of the team showed her a video in which his wife was naked.

The sad thing is that this kind of thing happens all the time. This time we just did it, as Lively is portrayed as difficult, deaf and tyrannical.

– The Daily Mail reported that Jeff Bezos would marry his fiancée Lauren Sanchez in a $600 million extravaganza in Aspen this weekend.

The Amazon founder, who owns the Washington Post, says this is nonsense:

“The whole thing is completely wrong – none of it is happening…”

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“The old adage ‘Don’t believe everything you read’ is truer today than ever before. Now lies can spread around the ENTIRE world before the truth comes out. So be careful out there, people don’t be gullible.

Good for Jeff for standing up to a shitty story.