An earlier version of this article was first published in the On the Trail 2024 newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox on Friday mornings here.
Much of the foreign policy discourse this week has focused on President-elect Donald Trump. He continued to call Canada the “51st state” and again called for taking ownership of the Panama Canal; he suggested the U.S. should annex Greenland; he (unofficially) renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
It’s quintessential Trump. Four years ago, global leaders would have reacted with silence or quiet mockery. But diplomatic rules, it seems, have changed, and global leaders are acting accordingly.
In Canada, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t mince words. “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” he wrote on X. When Trump posted a picture of Canada with a U.S. flag backdrop, Trudeau’s Liberal Party posted the same map — and over Canada, wrote “NOT THE UNITED STATES.” The leader of Canada’s conservative party chimed in, too, and noted Canada “will never be the 51st state. Period.”
In Panama, Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha said that “the only hands operating the canal are Panamanian and that is how it is going to stay”.
In Denmark, which Greenland is a district of, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen offered an eye-roll. “You can take Donald Trump seriously without taking him literally,” he said.
And in Mexico, new President Claudia Sheinbaum started her morning news conference Wednesday by showing a 17th-century map of North America and pointed to the land west of the Mississippi, then controlled by Mexico. “Why don’t we call it Mexican America? That sounds nice, no?” Sheinbaum joked.
It’s a change of tone from years past. When Trump was brash or outlandish, global allies would ignore him or joke in private. Now, they seem ready to fight fire with fire. If the playground bully is slinging mud, they are trying their hands at getting dirty, too. None have been as willing to stand up to him as Sheinbaum, who’s called Trump’s bluff on tariffs.
Call it “The Trump Doctrine,” this new approach to foreign diplomacy. More juvenile? Perhaps. But if it is the way global allies must engage with the new American head-of-state, so it will be.
New Year’s quiz answers
Congrats to Michael Kofoed, winner of last week’s New Year’s News Quiz. Correct answers are below.
1. According to a Deseret News/HarrisX poll we published in January, what percentage of Republican voters thought Trump was a “person of faith”?
- A. 64%. Registered voters were asked whether they considered a list of political figures to be people of faith, including Trump, President Joe Biden, former Vice President Mike Pence and Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney. Trump was the top choice for Republicans, while Biden was the most common choice for Democrats. See full poll results here.
2. Which candidate won the Nevada GOP presidential primary?
- C. “None of these options.” Nevada’s Republican primary was a mess. The state held an official primary election, while the state Republican Primary held a separate caucus and declared they would not recognize the primary as legitimate. Trump’s name was on the caucus ballot; Haley’s was on the primary ballot. Many Republicans voted in both — backing Trump at the caucus and “none of these options” in the primary, which won.
3. Who was Trump’s final Republican challenger to bow out of the presidential primary?
- B. Nikki Haley. The former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor lasted until early March, when Trump’s Super Tuesday sweep effectively secured him the nomination. She eventually relented and endorsed Trump, but not without a fight.
4. The nonprofit group No Labels attempted to draft a candidate to run atop its presidential ticket. All of their options said no. Which of the following Utahns was among them?
- A. Jon Huntsman Jr. The former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China and Russia ran for president in 2012. He sparked speculation when he appeared at a No Labels event alongside former Sen. Joe Manchin in summer 2023. But when I watched a debate at Huntsman’s home that November, he insisted he had no presidential ambitions — and he was skeptical of any third-party candidates having success.
5. Which Hall-of-Fame basketball player endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president?
- C. John Stockton. The former Utah Jazz all-star made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic for his anti-vaccine views. In March, he opened up to me about his thinking — and why he’d abandoned two decades of privacy via a foray into politics. Here is that profile.
6. Which of the following events was scheduled to take place in Utah before being canceled?
- A. A presidential debate. The Biden and Trump campaigns spurned tradition by planning their own presidential debates, instead of working through the longstanding Commission on Presidential Debates. That meant the three CPD-planned debates went by the wayside — including an October event scheduled to be held at the University of Utah.
7. What was Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s stated reason for endorsing Trump?
- A. He thought Trump could unify and save the country. Cox, a longtime Trump critic, wrote a letter to Trump shortly after the July 13 assassination attempt, pledging his support and calling on him to spread “unity rather than hate.” We reported on that letter shortly before Cox announced his endorsement in July.
8. What was Pres. Biden’s stated reason for exiting the presidential race?
- A. It was in the best interest of his party and the country. There were undoubtedly many foctors leading to his decision, but the president listed only one in a letter posted to social media on July 21: “While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
9. Which campaign first created a formal Latter-day Saint voter outreach initiative?
- A. The Harris campaign. A formal “Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz” advisory committee was formed in Arizona in September, weeks before Trump launched his campaign’s Latter-day Saint-focused outreach initiative. Latter-day Saint voters in Arizona and Nevada were key voting blocs.
10. What billionaire megadonor appeared onstage with Trump during his October return to Butler, Pennsylvania?
- C. Elon Musk. Widely regarded as the richest man in the world, Musk was the election’s largest individual donor, pouring more than a quarter of a billion dollars to boost Trump and other Republican candidates in November’s election.
11. In the September debate, Trump said he had “concepts of a plan” for which policy area?
- A. Health care. Moderators noted Trump has pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” but had not offered a replacement. Trump responded he had “concepts of a plan,” but offered no further detail.
12. Who said the following quote shortly after the presidential election was decided? “We accept the choice the country made. I’ve said many times: you can’t love your country only when you win.”
- B. Joe Biden. In a speech two days after Election Day, Biden congratulated his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, and promised a “peaceful and orderly transition of power.”
3 things to know
- Trump will become president in 10 days. He has made a long list of promises on Day One, from executive orders on the border to action on the economy and energy. Here’s an (admittedly incomplete) agenda of what Trump says he’ll do on his first day back in the White House. Read more here.
- Congress needs to pass a reconciliation bill to fund the government. But Republican leadership in the House and the Senate don’t seem to agree as to whether a single bill or two separate bills — one dealing with immigration, another with taxes — have a better chance of making it through the chamber. Read more here.
- Trump will be sentenced today, after a 5-4 Supreme Court decision Thursday said sentencing could go forward in his hush money trial. The justices in the majority said that some of President-elect Donald Trump’s concerns could be handled by an appeal, and pointed out the judge in the case said the sentencing would be “relatively insubstantial.” Read more here.
Weekend reads
Incoming White House chief of staff isn’t playing games: “I don’t welcome people who want to work solo or be a star. My team & I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission.” Susie Wiles vows to block West Wing troublemakers (Marc Caputo, Axios)
Would Biden have won? He thinks so: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.” In exclusive sit-down, Biden reveals his biggest regret and the compliment Trump gave him (Susan Page, USA Today)
Four years after the Jan. 6 attack, Washington is suffering from political dementia. Don’t Mention the Coup! (David Frum, The Atlantic)
Will DOGE work? So long as it gives up on attacking federal employees, and instead refocuses on cutting regulation. How the DOGE Could Succeed (Yuval Levin, National Review)
BONUS: On Jimmy Carter, the statesman and saint: “The sort of world that defines one’s politics as the whole of one’s identity is bad for a country, bad for a person. But the sort of world that defines one’s gospel by such things is infinitely worse.” Jimmy Carter at the Judgment Seat (Russell Moore, Christianity Today)