Donald Trump’s proposals to annex Greenland, the Panama Canal, and/or Canada—and now an executive order renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America”—represents another ridiculous betrayal of the “America First” ideology he ran on and further illustrates another example of his difficulty in understanding economics (e.g., his proposed protectionist tariffs). Not only would these moves towards annexation be frowned upon constitutionally, ethically, and economically, but they would only serve to expand a globalist agenda, and destabilize both the US and the world altogether.
First and foremost, annexation is patently in conflict with the libertarian self-ownership principle. Since every human being, as explained by Rothbard, has a property right in his own body and the fruits of his labor, that establishes straightaway that no one has any claim to another human being or upon his territory without consent. Every such notion ignores the rights of self-ownership of its inhabitants in taking Greenland or Canada forcefully.
The US Constitution provides for a federal government with limited powers. An action that exceeds these powers is considered unconstitutional, and the annexation of foreign territories certainly does just that. The Constitution grants no such powers to the president to annex foreign lands without both the consent of Congress and the people of the territories to be annexed.
While these reasons alone are a valid and serious criticism of plans like these, annexation is a serious economic liability. The free trade and protection of property rights form the core of the libertarian economic framework. Annexing either Canada or Greenland into the US will destroy free trade agreements and other economic relations in place. There will also be an enormous cost-burden to the government in administering these areas, which might weigh down the taxpayer or tamper with the natural market dynamics.
Most importantly, annexation is a pattern fitting in a dictatorial kind of leadership, contrasting strongly with libertarian convictions. It’s worth noting that both Canada and Greenland are independent nations in sovereignty and their self-government of peoples. Apparently, Trump’s proposals completely forgot democratic processes of decision-making for the other countries themselves, to say nothing of how this opposes basic libertarian principles.
While Trump has yet to take office, his plans already are shaping the picture of his presidency. Not only would annexing Greenland and Canada be unconstitutional, dictatorial, and unwise economically, but they too would be infringing upon the central libertarian principles of self-ownership, constitutional governance, and free trade.
