The Political Scene | The New Yorker Trump’s New Brand of Imperialism
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Jan 12, 2026 
Daniel Immerwahr, a historian and professor at Northwestern University, dives into the complexities of U.S. imperialism and recent foreign interventions. He compares Trump's unabashed rhetoric about territorial annexation to historical patterns of expansion, highlighting explicit motives like oil in Venezuela. Immerwahr discusses the geopolitical consequences of U.S. actions on Russia and China, and links imperialism to masculine pride throughout history. The conversation reveals how current U.S. policies might be eroding international norms and supremacy.
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Resource-First Rationale
- Trump openly frames interventions around resource gains, saying he wants oil and profits for U.S. companies.
- Daniel Immerwahr notes this breaks recent presidential norms of hiding economic motives behind neutral pretexts.
Hidden Global Footprint
- The U.S. maintains roughly 750 bases abroad, many unreported or secretive.
- Immerwahr calls the map of American power covert and dependent on journalism to reveal it.
Greenland's Strategic History
- Greenland has long strategic value for air and space operations near Russia.
- Presidents relied on bases there instead of annexation until Trump revived talk of claiming territory.
