{"id":160865,"date":"2026-01-04T15:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=160865"},"modified":"2026-01-04T17:14:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:14:42","slug":"the-mafioso-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2026\/01\/04\/the-mafioso-foreign-policy.html","title":{"rendered":"The Mafioso Foreign Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So, from what I can tell, the Trump Regime has now put all the nations in the entire Western Hemisphere on notice<\/strong> that, if they don’t play ball nicely with the US (bending their economic, domestic, and foreign policies to what profits US companies and curries the President’s favor), the US reserves the right to exercise a “law enforcement action” and take out their top leadership (we’ll figure out some charges beforehand, though).<\/p>\n

And if their successors don’t play ball and move in the “certain direction” we want, regardless of whether they’re dictators or democratically elected or personally selected by the US, we’ll take them<\/em> out, too.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
Trump Threatens Venezuela\u2019s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro\u2019s<\/div>
The president told The Atlantic that Delcy Rodr\u00edguez needs to comply with U.S. wishes\u2014or else.<\/div>
www.theatlantic.com\/national-security\/2026\/01\/trump-venezuela-maduro-delcy-rodriguez\/685497\/<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio: US wants Venezuela to \u2018move in certain direction\u2019<\/div>
In the NBC interview, Marco Rubio was repeatedly asked about Donald Trump\u2019s claim that the US was aiming to \u201crun\u201d Venezuela, he avoided answering directly who was currently running the country.<\/div>
news.sky.com\/video\/us-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-marco-rubio-us-wants-venezuela-to-move-in-certain-direction-13490345<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Oh, and, Marco?\u00a0 A “law enforcement operation”<\/a> doesn’t usually involve leaving boots on the ground, and threatening the folks not arrested with something “still worse” if they don’t truckle to the police department’s demands, and, oh, also open up their natural resources to the police department’s preferred vendors, and, also when it results in civilian casualties people get suspended and investigations take place.<\/p>\n

Oh, I see, this line’s not about being truthful<\/em>, that’s about coming up with an excuse for not seeking Congressional approval<\/em>.\u00a0 All we’re doing is a “law enforcement operation,” not a war. Sure, Congress is supposed to be informed (if not approve) an actual war, but, well, even if carriers and jets and military personnel were all involved, it was only about arresting a Bad Guy (and his wife).<\/p>\n

Of course, the Regime can pivot at an instant. If a plot of land we want to own \/ exploit \/ control doesn’t have a flourishing drug trade … no problem! We just invoke\u00a0National Security<\/em> as the catch-all phrase for\u00a0The President can do what he wants, whenever he wants.<\/em><\/p>\n

So now the heads of Cuba and Columbia and Mexico are also on notice that the choppers might be coming for them next.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
Marco Rubio says he believes Cuba is \u2018in a lot of trouble\u2019<\/div>
The secretary of state\u2019s latest remarks came after he told reporters that he\u2019d be \u201cconcerned\u201d if he were a government official in Havana.<\/div>
www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/national-security\/marco-rubio-believes-cuba-trouble-havana-maduro-military-venezuela-rcna252150<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Yeah. Invading Cuba has always ended well for the US.<\/p>\n

People who were laughing about Trump trying to take over Greenland are not laughing now, since Trump has continued to bring up the subject<\/a> …<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0The Atlantic\u00a0magazine published Sunday, Mr. Trump reiterated his wish to take over Greenland.<\/p>\n

“We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense,” he told the magazine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

… as has Rubio, and, naturally, even Steven Miller (or his wife<\/a>) have dropped “hints” that the US is quite interested in taking over the place.<\/p>\n

For “national security,” of course. For “defense.” Which he can always use as an excuse to act unilaterally, without any of what passes for Congressional oversight these days.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
Danish PM tells Trump to stop \u2018threats\u2019 against Greenland<\/div>
Mette Frederiksen said the \u201cUS has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom\u201d.<\/div>
www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4g0zg974v1o<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Also, lots of profitable minerals for Big Campaign Donors to extract. \ud83d\ude44 The remarkable thing is that Trump isn’t even reticent about listing that as an opinion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Nice country you got there. Shame if you forced us to kidnap your head of state.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,349,374,1071],"tags":[2322,2321,2323],"class_list":["post-160865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geopolitical-brouhaha","category-military","category-money-politics","category-trump","tag-cuba","tag-greenland","tag-venezuela"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump-and-Co-2026-01.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":131279,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/15\/donald-trump-tries-to-get-serious-on-foreign-policy.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":0},"title":"Donald Trump tries to get serious on foreign policy","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 15-Aug-16 11:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"He didn't mock any disabled people or toss many scandalous one-liners around, but his War on Terror speech is long on retreaded ideas and short on recognition of practical application.So, for example, he wants to have \"extreme vetting\" of immigrants from problematic areas of the world. This is to stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":160969,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2026\/02\/04\/you-must-save-us-from-the-thing-we-did-because-it-was-stupid-so-you-need-to-let-it-happen.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":1},"title":"You must save us from the thing we did, because it was stupid, so you need to let it happen!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 4-Feb-26 12:14am","format":false,"excerpt":"The guy in charge of national security is using \"national security\" he's endangered to get his own way.","rel":"","context":"In "Money & Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Money & Politics","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/money-politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trump and his ballroom plans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Trump-and-ballroom-plans.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Trump-and-ballroom-plans.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Trump-and-ballroom-plans.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Trump-and-ballroom-plans.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":133339,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/24\/the-most-important-president.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":2},"title":"The Most Important President","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Apr-17 10:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So its worth noting that Trump has actually entertained a number of foreign dignitaries, presidents, and PMs, during this time. And he's been sending his VP and his Secretary of State off for foreign visits., But, hey, that's what the next level of management down is useful for.There is this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tumblr_oox0uyNJxz1qjb4auo1_540.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tumblr_oox0uyNJxz1qjb4auo1_540.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tumblr_oox0uyNJxz1qjb4auo1_540.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":132098,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/23\/trump-plays-the-diversity-card-in-nominations.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":3},"title":"Trump plays the "diversity" card in nominations","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Nov-16 1:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Which I'm sure will engender even more Thanksgiving Dinner table discussions in some houses this week.For UN Ambassador, Trump has tapped (even before appointing a Secretary of State) Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina. While Haley has limited foreign policy experience -- beyond going on some trade junkets on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132440,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/24\/this-is-what-conflict-of-interest-looks-like.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":4},"title":"This is what Conflict of Interest looks like","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 24-Dec-16 3:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump's Virginia winery is requesting H2 foreign worker visas for seasonal vine trimming. Leaving aside the whole \"HIRE AMERICAN!\" thang, what we have here is a Donald Trump business is asking for a waiver from a federal government and an agency that will soon be under the overall executive oversight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131711,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/03\/trump-foreign-policy-and-machismo.html","url_meta":{"origin":160865,"position":5},"title":"Trump, Foreign Policy, and Machismo","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Oct-16 8:02am","format":false,"excerpt":"Is Trump the \"safer\" candidate because he's an isolationist businessman and will do more to keep us from war than Clinton? In short: no. In long:http:\/\/slatestarcodex.com\/2016\/10\/01\/he-kept-us-out-of-war\/Which included this passage:'Actually, I have a theory which I think explains a lot about Trump\u2019s foreign policy positions: he doesn\u2019t like losers. He supported\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/rs-240253-GettyImages-5273243205B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/rs-240253-GettyImages-5273243205B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/rs-240253-GettyImages-5273243205B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160865"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160885,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160865\/revisions\/160885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}