America’s President-elect, Donald Trump, would be sworn-in as the 47th President of the United States of America next week Monday. The event, which will take place on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., would be Trump’s second inauguration as President and the 60th U.S. presidential inauguration. However, even before his taking the oath of office for the second time, the entire world is already on edge.

He has sent shivers down the spine of many in Canada, Mexico, and even Panama, by his pronouncement. The Cable News Network (CNN) has already tagged him a presidential landgrabber. This is due to his desire to see Canada become a part of the USA. According to him, it would be better for Canada to become the 51st American State in the interest of both countries. And if they are not willing to dance to his tune, he has vowed to use economic force to achieve his aim. Doing so, he believes, would get rid of the artificially ‘drawn line’, and it would guarantee a better national security for the US.

Their refusal, he said, would be met with economic sanctions, one of which would be the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada going into the US market. It is a known fact that such a tariff would significantly hurt Canada’s economy. But Trump does not care.

Almost C$3.6bn ($2.5bn) worth of goods and services crossed the border daily since 2023, according to the Canadian government figures. Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, who is facing a lot of heat at home has offered to resign, hit back at Trump, saying there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of the two countries becoming one.

Trump, with his America-first rhetoric, has left many Canadians seething with rage. If they could have their way, many are battle-ready for the insult. But when does Trump care about other people’s feelings? He believes that Canada becoming an appendage of the USA would reduce the inflow of drugs to the USA. One of such common drugs is Fentanyl.

Although the amount of fentanyl seized at the US-Canada border is significantly lower than at the southern border according to US data, Canada has promised to implement a set of sweeping new security measures along the border, including strengthened surveillance and adding a joint “strike force” to target transnational organised crime. But Trump is not pacified. Instead, it would seem that the ridicule of another sovereign country is high on his agenda.

While Trump has said that he was not considering using military force to make Canada part of the United States, he is however, worried about its neighbour’s military spending.

Canada has been under pressure to increase its military spending as it continues to fall short of the target set out for NATO members. Its defence budget currently stands at C$27bn ($19.8bn, £15.5bn), although the Trudeau government has promised that it will boost spending to almost C$50bn by 2030. Will that make Trump happy?

Another close neighbouring country already feeling the heat of Trump’s second coming is Mexico. After the November presidential election which he won with a landslide, Trump has been on the neck of one of America’s biggest trading partners, Mexico, threatening to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. As expected, that did not sit well with Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, who has also said that it would be beautiful to rename United States of America as Mexican America.

While recently displaying a 17th-century world map showing North America as Mexican America, she pointed out that the Gulf of Mexico was the name recognised by the United Nations several decades ago, and that nothing would change it. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Mexico, threatening to impose stiff tariffs on imports from one of the United States’ biggest trading partners unless it halted the flow of illegal migrants and drugs across the border. He has also revived a threat from his first term to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.

After provoking his neigbours in Canada and Mexico, Trump seems not to be done yet, as both Greenland and the Panama Canal are next on his radar. He says the United States needs those two areas for economic security, and warns that he wouldn’t rule out exercising military or economic coercion to achieve his aim.

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Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has rejected Trump’s designs on Greenland, but said she’d continue to welcome American interest and investment. She said that the people of Greenland would continue to hold fast to Greenland, and that the future of Greenland would be defined by the Greenlanders, and ‘not the rest of us.’ ‘’It is their country that we are talking about here, and it is Greenland that, in my eyes, can determine and define Greenland’s future,” she said.

As he takes the oath of office, he should be reminded that the interest of other democratic countries counts in foreign relations and that it should not be all about America. The world is changing, and it is not the same world he left behind in 2021 that he is going to meet on January 20th.

Greenland has a population of about 57,000 and is a fully autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has oil, natural gas and mineral resources, but its economy is reliant on subsidies from Denmark and from fishing. Still, Trump recently expressed doubt about Denmark’s control of Greenland, despite Greenland’s status as an autonomous territory. “Nobody even knows if they have any right, title or interest,” Trump said, inaccurately, of Denmark and Greenland.

Greenland’s government has twice rebuffed assertions of interest in the territory by Trump, with Prime Minister Mute Egede saying just before Christmas that “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.” Recently, Egede gave a New Year’s speech, pushing for Greenland to remove “the shackles of colonialism” and gain full independence from Denmark. “It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be,” Egede said.

Trump’s ongoing pursuit of Greenland may have raised the hackles of Denmark, which retains sovereignty over the Arctic Island, but his territorial ambitions seem to be gaining traction in an unlikely quarter – Russia.

High-profile political pundits close to Russian President, Vladimir Putin, have already voiced their support for Trump’s re-stated ambition to ‘buy’ Greenland and expand U.S. territory to include the resource-rich island — commenting that such a move would validate every other country’s expansionist territorial ambition, and most importantly, Russia’s.

With a week before his inauguration, I doubt if there is a nation on earth that is not thinking deeply on how the next four years would pan out in America and its policies under Trump. Although, he seems to enjoy a cosy relationship with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is also giving many Ukrainians cause for concern. He has already vowed to end the war within 24 hours of his inauguration.

How he intends to do that is yet to be seen. He has made his intention known to stop providing military aid to Ukraine, and such an action will significantly tilt the war in favour of Russia. If that happens, several billions of dollars belonging to America but so far invested in the war would have been wasted.

Trump is in a no-love-lust relationship with China and the cold war is expected to continue with him fully in charge. The issues at hand are the control of Taiwan by China, as well as the growing influence of China in world affairs. And he makes no bones about it when he said that he’ll impose a tax regime of 150 per cent to 200 per cent on China. He believes that he enjoys warm relations with President Xi Jinping, and that China would not dare provoke him because Xi knows that Trump is ‘crazy’.

What should we expect of him on the Middle-east crisis? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once described Trump as the “best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”. While in office during his first term, Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move that was widely denounced by Palestinians and international law experts. He also recognised Israel’s claim to the occupied Golan Heights in Syria. His administration brokered the so-called Abraham Accords, a series of agreements that formalised diplomatic and economic relations between Israel and a handful of Arab countries.

But contrary to Trump’s claims that he would bring calm to the region, critics say his “arms for peace” framework has been a failure – as evidenced by Israel’s devastating military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, which have pushed the Middle East to the brink of an all-out-war. Trump maintained a hard line against Iran both in and out of the White House, and this is expected to continue. During Trump’s first tenure as president, the US unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 agreement that saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions against its economy. In the aftermath, his administration heaped crippling sanctions against Tehran and authorised the assassination of top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, an attack that fuelled tensions across the region.

While in office, Trump notoriously derided international bodies such as the United Nations and the NATO alliance, and withdrew from multilateral accords, including the Paris Agreement on climate change. He has accused Washington’s NATO allies of not paying their fair share for the bloc’s collective defence and has warned them that his government would not protect them if they were attacked by Russia. NATO’s charter contains a mutual defence clause for all members.

Coming back home, what should African countries expect from Trump’s second coming? Africa has not been a top diplomatic priority for Washington in recent years. The United States has lost some of its influence on the continent also. The list of issues that would involve Trump in the affairs of the continent would include trade, investment, aid, sanctions and war. Trump’s election and inauguration comes as China and Russia make significant strides across Africa. Experts believe that Trump’s foreign policy towards African countries will prioritise transactional relationships and shift away from multilateral partnerships, with aid, trade, and climate agreement now uncertain. Trump’s focus, many have warned, could be limited to how Africa fits within his broader geopolitical objectives, especially concerning his rivalry with China. Those who fall in line will be favoured, others pressured to conform, more like what he did whilst in power between 2017 and 2021. Trump has been variously described as a dealer who transacts based on what he can get.

With power effectively back in his hands in a few days’ time, Trump is one leader that cannot be taken for granted. His first and only love is America and he would do whatever that has to be done to make America great again. Many in Africa won’t like him, as he has promised to deport many illegal immigrants in the USA from his first day in office. Many African-Americans who are majorly in the Democratic party did all within their power to stop Trump’s re-election, but millions of others voted for him. As he takes the oath of office, he should be reminded that the interest of other democratic countries counts in foreign relations and that it should not be all about America. The world is changing, and it is not the same world he left behind in 2021 that he is going to meet on January 20th.

I wish him well in his second coming.

See you next week.

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“Yes, we need to keep meeting as leaders, whether that’s virtual or in person,” Trudeau told reporters during his daily press conference in Ottawa.

“We’ll certainly take a look at what the US is proposing as hosts of the G7 to see what kind of measures will be in place to keep people safe, what kind of recommendations the experts are giving in terms of how that might function.”

Trudeau said Canadian officials “look forward to having those discussions with the American hosts.”

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The Nigerian leader met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the margins of the 33rd AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In remarks before the press, President Buhari underscored the warm and friendly relations between Nigeria and Canada, noting commonwealth membership of both nations and the choice of Canada for higher education by Nigerian students.

‘‘We have a lot of students in Canada. We are aware of our vital roles to keep the country together. We are eager to expand trade because you are one of the ‘biggest customers’, of Nigeria’s crude oil.

‘‘But the most important and enduring relations with Canada is education,’’ President Buhari said.

In his remarks, the Canadian Prime Minister described President Buhari as ‘‘a leader in Africa’’, adding that it was a pleasure to engage on regional and international issues.

‘‘Your leadership and reflection on the current situation challenging Africa but also the potentials and opportunities are something that I am very much looking up to.

‘‘Canada and Nigeria have a long-standing and deep connection and friendship, and I very much look forward to hearing your perspectives on many big issues facing not just Africa but the world,’’ Trudeau said.

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The leaders of Canada and the UK called for a full and thorough investigation into the crash, which killed all 176 people on board.

Iran has ruled out a missile strike by its air defences.

The crash came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.

US media have speculated that the timing of the crash suggests the plane may have been mistaken for a US warplane as Iran prepared for possible US retaliation for the strikes.

CBS News quoted US intelligence sources as saying a satellite detected infrared “blips” of two missile launches, followed by another blip of an explosion.

Meanwhile, Newsweek quoted a Pentagon and senior US intelligence officials, as well as an Iraqi intelligence official, as saying they believed Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was hit by a Russian-made Tor missile.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had “suspicions” about what happened to the plane.

Who will investigate?

Amid tensions heightened by the US killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on 3 January, Iran initially said it would not hand over the recovered black box flight recorders to Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer, or to the US.

However, an Iranian official later told Reuters the US had been formally invited to take part in the investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed it had assigned an investigator.

Boeing said it would support the NTSB in the inquiry, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it had also been invited to the accident site by Tehran.

Under global aviation rules Iran has the right to lead the investigation, but manufacturers are typically involved.

Iranian TV pictures later in the day showed the crash site being bulldozed.

What’s been said about the possible missile strike?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had received intelligence from multiple sources indicating that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, adding that it was possible that this was unintentional.

“This reinforces the need for a thorough investigation,” he said.

“Canadians have questions and they deserve answers.”

But he said it was too early to apportion blame or draw any conclusions, and refused to go into detail about the evidence.

A total of 63 Canadians were on the flight, along with dozens of others who were expecting to fly on to Toronto from Kyiv.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Mr Trudeau’s words and said Britain was working closely with Canada and other international partners affected by the crash.

Speaking in Canada, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said British nationals were advised not to travel to Iran, “given the body of information that UIA Flight 752 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, and the heightened tensions”.

Meanwhile, Newsweek quoted US and Iraqi officials as saying they believed the aircraft was hit by a Russia-built Tor M-1 surface-to-air missile system.

Two Pentagon officials had assessed that the incident was accidental, Newsweek added.

It quoted sources as saying that Iran’s anti-aircraft systems were probably active following its attacks on the US airbases.

The Pentagon has so far made no public comment on the issue.

When asked what he thought had happened to the plane, President Trump answered: “I have my suspicions. It’s a tragic thing when I see that, it’s a tragic thing. But somebody could have made a mistake on the other side.”

Earlier on Thursday, Oleksiy Danylov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security and defence council, said in a Facebook post (in Ukrainian) that three other possible crash causes were being considered: a mid-air collision with a drone or other flying object; engine destruction/explosion due to technical reasons and an explosion inside the plane as a result of a terror attack.

Mr Danylov said Ukrainian investigators, who are already in Iran, wanted to search for possible debris from a missile at the site of the crash.

Iran is known to have Russian missile defence systems.

The investigation would include experts who worked on the investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, Mr Danylov added.

What does Iran say?

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh said: “The plane, which was initially headed west to leave the airport zone, turned right following a problem and was headed back to the airport at the moment of the crash.”

Mr Abedzadeh added that witnesses saw the plane “on fire” before the crash, and that pilots had not made any distress calls before trying to return to Imam Khomeini airport.

“Scientifically, it is impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane, and such rumours are illogical,” he said.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei described the reports as “psychological warfare”.

“All those countries whose citizens were aboard the plane can send representatives and we urge Boeing to send its representative to join the process of investigating the black box,” he said.

‘This would be an extraordinary error’

A pattern of disturbing indications is emerging suggesting that Flight PS752 may well have been shot down by mistake by Iran’s own air defences.

While it is not unprecedented for air defence systems in conflict zones to shoot down airliners, this would be an extraordinary error.

The aircraft had only just taken off from an international airport; it was a scheduled flight; and it should easily have been recognisable.

However, precisely what the operators of the Russian-supplied, Soviet-era Tor – or SA-15/Gauntlet system as it is known by Nato – would have seen is unclear.

All this is hugely embarrassing for the Iranian authorities and is only going to complicate the politics involved in getting to the bottom of this tragedy.

What do we know?

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 to Kyiv had 167 passengers and nine Ukrainian crew on board.

The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada.

There was good visibility when the plane went down near Iran’s capital, according to the Flightradar24 aviation website.

Officials from the airline said the crew were experienced.

Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including all nine crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, four Britons and three Germans, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.

Fifteen of the dead were children.

But the German government later said “we currently have no knowledge that German citizens are among the victims of the plane crash in Iran”.

Iran’s head of emergency operations said 147 of the victims were Iranian.

That would suggest that 65 of the foreign nationals had dual nationalities. The Ukrainian airline gave a helpline number for further information about passengers: +38-044-581-50-19.

Source: Reuters

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He also felicitated with the Liberal Party of Canada and Canadians generally on the outcome of the federal election in the country.

He said as a major trading partner, with Nigeria-Canada trade totaling $948.4 million in 2018, he looked forward to continued relationship with Prime Minister Trudeau across a wide range of shared values and interests.

The president recalled that the visit of Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, to Nigeria in October 2018, provided an opportunity for Nigeria to appreciate the humanitarian assistance of Canada to civilian populations affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He said with the common membership of Nigeria and Canada in the Global Counter Terrorism Forum and several other international organizations, he trusted that both countries would continue to stand together on issues of peace and security that guaranteed a better and more secure world for all.

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Treasury Board President Jane Philpott said: “I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations.”

Mr Trudeau said he was disappointed by the resignation, but understood it.

He has denied political meddling to shield engineering firm SNC-Lavalin from a bribery trial.

Opposition Conservatives last week called on the Liberal PM to resign.

A number of opinion polls indicate Mr Trudeau’s popularity is slipping in the run-up to a general election scheduled for October.

What did Jane Philpott say?

The cabinet minister announced her decision to step down on Monday, posting her resignation letter detailing her “serious concerns” with “evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former Attorney General to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin”.

“There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them,” she said in a statement.

Her letter said it had become “untenable” for her to continue to serve in the cabinet.

“It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our Attorney General should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases,” she wrote.

“Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.”

The former family physician has held key portfolios in Mr Trudeau’s cabinet – health, indigenous services and, until this week, treasury board president – since being elected in 2015.

She will remain on as a Liberal member of Parliament.

What about Mr Trudeau’s response?

In a short statement, Mr Trudeau thanked Ms Philpott for “her years of service and her dedication to Canadians”.

And commenting on the growing political scandal at a rally in Toronto later, the prime minister said: “Concerns of this nature must be taken seriously and I can ensure you that I am.”

Three ways this story is a problem for Trudeau

What is the SNC-Lavalin affair?

Quebec-based SNC-Lavalin is one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies.

The firm and two of its subsidiaries face fraud and corruption charges in connection with about C$48m ($36m; £28m) in bribes it is alleged to have offered to Libyan officials between 2001-11.

The firm has openly lobbied to be allowed to enter into a remediation agreement instead of going to trial, saying it has cleaned house and changed its ways.

SNC-Lavalin says it would be unfair to penalise the company as a whole and its thousands of employees for the wrongdoing of former executives.

The matter is proceeding to trial and the company says it will “vigorously defend itself” against the allegations.

A conviction could result in a decade-long ban on bidding on Canadian federal contracts, which would be a major financial blow to the firm.

A deepening crisis for Trudeau – what it means

Who else has resigned?

This is the third high-profile resignation following accusations Mr Trudeau and some of his top aides tried to shield SNC-Lavalin from a corruption trial.

Former attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned suddenly from Cabinet in February.

On 18 February, Mr Trudeau’s top aide, Gerald Butts, announced he would quit, denying in a statement that he or anyone on his staff had done anything wrong but saying he had to leave so as not to be a distraction from the team’s “vital work”.

He is expected to speak on Wednesday before the House of Commons Justice Committee, which is looking into the matter.

What are the political interference claims?

Ms Wilson-Raybould has said she and her staff faced four months of a “sustained” and “inappropriate effort” late last year to push for a possible deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin.

That agreement would have allowed the firm to avoid a criminal trial and instead agree to alternative terms or conditions, like penalties or enhanced compliance measures.

The Liberal government brought in the remediation agreement regime in 2018 as part of a massive budget bill following lobbying efforts by the company.

Ms Wilson-Raybould says she resisted that pressure and believes she was shuffled out of the justice portfolio as a consequence.

Mr Trudeau has maintained that any discussions he had with Ms Wilson-Raybould were lawful and appropriate and that his government was concerned that thousands of jobs were at stake if the company went to trial.

Source:  BBC

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