MAGA is rapidly descending into 21st-century colonial fantasy, dressed up in the language of national security and draped in the flag of patriotism. “America First” is currently being reimagined as the public resurrection of a colonial project. Along with Saturday’s military assault in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, which killed around 75 people according to an estimate by U.S. officials, Donald Trump has also bombed targets in Nigeria, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia in his first year back in office. Now his administration is openly encroaching upon Greenland, a NATO ally, which is finally raising bipartisan alarm bells on Capitol Hill.
The resurrection of the Monroe Doctrine sits at the heart of Trump’s imperial project. He has openly embraced this 200-year-old policy, which essentially declared the Western Hemisphere to be the domain of the United States. “We sort of forgot about it,” the president said. “It was very important, but we forgot about it. We don’t forget about it anymore. Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.” He has since dubbed his version the Donroe Doctrine.
