Democracy Now! "Empire in Decline": Historian Alfred McCoy on U.S. Aggression in Venezuela, Iran & Beyond

13 Jan 2026 | As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is "an empire in decline," following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage.

"American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational," says McCoy. "I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, … and it will continue for another decade or two, until American power finally slips away."

McCoy just published his latest book, Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.


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Trump Suggests U.S. Could Take Action Against More Countries

THE NEW YORK TIMES: On Air Force One, President Trump threatened Colombia and its president, described Cuba as “ready to fall” and reasserted his desire to acquire Greenland.

President Trump suggested on Sunday that the United States could take action against other countries after its attack on Venezuela. He threatened Colombia and its president, described Cuba as “ready to fall” and reasserted his desire to take control of Greenland.

Mr. Trump has been facing questions about his plans for Venezuela since a U.S. raid in Caracas captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and brought him to New York City to face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. As Mr. Trump took questions about that on Sunday, he spoke of other countries in Latin America and beyond.

On Air Force One, Mr. Trump told reporters that Colombia was being “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”

“He’s not going to be doing it for very long,” he said of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, who has frequently criticized Mr. Trump. “He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories.”

Mr. Trump and Mr. Petro have been locked in an escalating dispute over the United States’ series of boat strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, which have ratcheted up pressure on Colombia, a nexus of the region’s drug trade.

Asked whether his administration would carry out an operation targeting Colombia, Mr. Trump replied, “It sounds good to me.” » | Yan Zhuang | Sunday,, January 4, 2026

Mexico’s President Condemns US ‘Intervention’ in Venezuela

Claudia Scheinbaum shares her views on Trump’s intervention.

Mexicans Protest Immigrants from the US

Click here to learn more.

Sheinbaum Rejects US ‘Invasion’ after Trump Orders Military to Target Mexico Cartels

THE GUARDIAN: Mexico’s president says ‘there will be no invasion … it’s absolutely off the table’ after news reports of order

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has rejected the idea that the US might invade Mexico after news reports suggested Donald Trump had authorized the use of military force targeting drug cartels deemed terrorist organizations in Latin American countries.

“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with their military,” she said during a daily news conference on Friday. “We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. It’s off the table, absolutely off the table.”

The Mexican president said her government had been informed of the executive order but insisted that “it had nothing to do with the participation of any military or any institution on our territory. There is no risk that they will invade our territory.” » | Oscar Lopez in Mexico City | Friday, August 8, 2025

Sheinbaum Demands Return of Mexican Citizens Held at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

THE GUARDIAN: Mexican president said citizens held at controversial Florida immigration jail ‘should be repatriated immediately’

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said that the country is demanding the repatriation of at least 30 of its citizens currently being held in the controversial Florida immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz”.

The Mexican leader said on Wednesday that a note had been sent to US authorities “demanding that any Mexicans who might enter this detention center should be repatriated immediately”.

Sheinbaum added: “They have no reason to enter these detention centers. Within the framework of the United States’ own laws, what we seek is for them to return to our country immediately and not be detained in this manner.” » | Oscar Lopez in Mexico City | Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Trump Backtracks on Tariffs for Mexico and Canada, after Calls with Leaders

Mar 7, 2025 | After calls with Sheinbaum and Trudeau, Donald Trump pauses tariffs on both Mexico and Canada until April. Anthony Davis reports.

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Mexico Threatens to Escalate US Gunmakers Lawsuit with Terror Charges

THE GUARDIAN: Claudia Scheinbaum warns of reciprocal action if Washington designates country’s cartels as terrorist groups

Mexico’s president has warned US gunmakers they could face fresh legal action as accomplices of organized crime if Washington designates the country’s cartels as terrorist groups.

The Latin American country, which is under mounting pressure from Donald Trump to curb illegal drug smuggling, wants its neighbor to crack down on firearms trafficking in the other direction.

“If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we’ll have to expand our US lawsuit,” Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said at a daily press conference.

A new charge could include alleged complicity of gunmakers with terror groups, she said.

“The lawyers are looking at it, but they could be accomplices,” Sheinbaum warned.

She said the US justice department itself has recognized that “74% of the weapons” used by criminal groups in Mexico come from north of the border. » | Agence France-Presse in Mexico City | Friday, February 14, 2025

Is President Donald Trump Using Tariffs as a Negotiating Tactic? | Inside Story

Feb 4, 2025 | US President Donald Trump's tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico are on hold for a month. But US levies on Chinese products have gone into effect - and Beijing has hit back with duties of its own. It accuses Washington of unilateralism and has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. President Trump says America has been ripped off by 'every country in the world'. So, are tariffs the answer? And at what cost?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:
Dmitry Grozoubinski -- Director of ExplainTrade - a trade policy and negotiations consultancy
Greg Swenson -- Founding Partner of the investment banking firm, Brigg Macadam
Gavin Fridell -- Professor of Political Science and Global Development Studies at Saint Mary's University in Canada

Mexico President Sxheinbaum Destroys Trump in Major Speech

Feb 3, 2025 | MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the presidential address by the popular and powerful President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum where she shows that Mexico will fight back against Trump.

Trump Gets Rude Awakening as Tariffs Backfire

Feb 2, 2025 | MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump getting hit with a massive retaliation by Mexico and Canada for the tariffs Trump had the USA impose on them.

Tit-for-tat Tariffs: Did Trump Just Start a Trade War? | DW News

Feb 2, 2025 | US President Donald Trump has followed through on his tariff threats. He has signed an order to levy 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. He also set tariffs of 10 percent on Chinese goods. The measures are due to come into force on Tuesday. The announcement has provoked immediate reactions from the countries concerned.

Canada and Mexico Hit Back as President Trump Imposes Huge Tariffs | BBC News

Feb 2, 2025 | US President Donald Trump has announced new tariffs on all goods imported from America's three largest trading partners, China, Mexico and Canada.

Trump said the US would impose tariffs beginning on Tuesday of 25% on Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10% tax on China. Canadian energy faces a lower 10% tariff.

He had threatened to impose the import taxes if the three countries did not address his concerns about illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Both Canada and Mexico said they were preparing retaliatory tariffs of their own.

Trump Signs Order Authorizing Tariffs on Goods from Canada, Mexico and China

THE GUARDIAN: Decision could set the stage for a damaging trade war between the US and three of its top trade partners

Donald Trump has signed an order authorizing tariffs after vowing to impose dramatic taxes on goods from Canada, Mexico and China starting this weekend.

The decision could set the stage for a damaging trade war between the US and three of its top trade partners. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs against European Union nations.

Trump signed three executive orders on Saturday imposing tariffs of 25% on all goods from Mexico and Canada, the New York Times reported. Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Canadian oil exports, as well as a 10% tariff on items from China.

Trump is imposing the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Authorities have nodded to worries about fentanyl coming in to the US through this county’s borders with Canada and Mexico, produced from Chinese ingredients, according to the Times.

Trump’s decision to levy a 10% tariff rate on Canadian energy products seems to be some sort of recognition that tariffs can spur higher prices. The White House has contended that tariffs will not fan the flames of inflation. » | Victoria Beklempis | Saturday, February 1, 2025

THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Trump Signs Orders Imposing Steep Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China »

'Cognitively Declining' Trump Faces Economic Chaos as Tariffs Backfire | Diane Francis

Feb 1, 2025 | "It was frighteningly rambling and he repeated himself, to me it looked like cognitive decline." US and Canadian markets were thrown into chaos by Trump's confused launch of tariffs against Canada and Mexico, says Editor at Large of the National Post Diane Francis on The Trump Report for Times Radio.

Trump to Impose Tariffs on Imports from Canada, Mexico and China

THE GUARDIAN: US neighbors hit with 25% tariff and China with 10% as Trudeau pledges ‘forceful but reasonable’ response

Donald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China starting this weekend, potentially setting the stage for a damaging trade war between the US and three of its biggest trading partners. Trump also threatened to follow up with a further wave of tariffs against the European Union.

Goods exported from Canada and Mexico to the US will be hit with a 25% tariff, while products from China face a 10% levy, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Friday. (+ video) » | Callum Jones in New York, Leyland Cecco in Toronto, Thomas Graham in Mexico City and George Chidi | Friday, January 31, 2025

Is Trump Right about the Canadian Border? | About That

Dec 5, 2024 | U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and his incoming border czar claim their country's northern border with Canada is a threat to national security. Andrew Chang breaks down the basis of the claims about drugs and illegal migrants streaming into the country from Canada, and to what extent they're true.

John Bolton on Donald Trump: He Blew The (Greenland) Negotiations Up | Full Interview

Jan 10, 2025 | Tom Burges Watson is joined by former US ambassador to the UN under Donald Trump, John Bolton, for a special interview discussing and reacting to Donald Trump's recent claims about wanting to control Greenland, the Panama Canal and Mexico as well as other claims made by the President-elect just over a week from his inauguration.

Poking Fun at Trump, Mexico’s President Suggests Renaming the U.S.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico also said Donald Trump was ill-informed when he said Mexico was “essentially run by the cartels.”

Mexico’s president rejected several of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s assertions about her country and even joked that the United States should be called “Mexican America” after Mr. Trump said the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America.

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico used her Wednesday morning news conference to show a world map dating from 1607. The map labeled North America as Mexican America and already identified the Gulf of Mexico as such, 169 years before the United States was founded.

“Why don’t we call it Mexican America? It sounds pretty, no?” Ms. Sheinbaum said while pointing to the map and smiling.

In response to Mr. Trump’s comment that Mexico was “essentially run by the cartels,” Ms. Sheinbaum told reporters on Wednesday that, “with all due respect,” the president-elect was ill-informed. (+ video) » | Emiliano Rodríguez Mega | Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Donald Trump Says US Needs Greenland and Canada for 'National Security' | BBC News

Jan 7, 2025 | US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened "very high" tariffs on Denmark if it resists his effort to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Asked during a news conference Tuesday if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take control of the strategically-important island, he said: "No, I can't assure you on either of those two." "I can say this, we need them for economic security," he said.

Trump also said he would use "economic force" against Canada and called the US-Canada border an "artificially drawn line".


Trump is an objectionable character. Despicable and objectionable. – © Mark Alexander