U.S. President Donald Trump addresses House Republicans at their annual issues conference retreat, at the Kennedy Center, renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center by the Trump-appointed board of directors, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 6, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
After U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to a detention center in New York City, President Donald Trump wasted no time doubling down on his call for U.S. acquisition of Greenland and threatening Cuba and Columbia. The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire, during a January 6 appearance on MS NOW's "Morning Joe," warned that Cuba might be the "next domino to fall."
In a scathing opinion column published by The Guardian on January 6 — the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Capital insurrection — liberal economist Robert Reich argues that Trump's threats against other countries go beyond dangerous and now threaten "civilization" itself.
"Trump's domestic and foreign policies — ranging from his attempted coup against the United States five years ago, to his incursion into Venezuela last weekend, to his current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland — undermine domestic and international law," Reich warns. "But that's not all. They threaten what we mean by civilization. The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we'd be permanently immersed in a brutish war in which only the fittest and most powerful could survive."
Reich continues, "This principle lies at the center of America's founding documents — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It's also the core of the postwar international order championed by the United States, including the UN charter — emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."
The economist and former Clinton Administration labor secretary laments that in a "society and world" that have "grown vastly more unequal," the "destructive power of the United States, China, and Russia is unmatched in human history."
"A direct line connects Trump's attempted coup five years ago to his capture of Nicolás Maduro last weekend," Reich observes. "Both were lawless. Both were premised on the hubris of omnipotence. That same line connects to Trump's current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland…. Trump's blatant lawlessness will haunt America and the world — and civilization — for years to come."
Robert Reich's full column for The Guardian is available at this link.