Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? at Miscellany Room.

Today I wrote to Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Poilievre;

I’m writing you today to express my anger and dismay at your congratulating Donald Trump on his kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. In your misplaced and hasty enthusiasm at the misfortune of a bad guy you don’t like, you have forgotten or ignored Trump’s trampling of much more important principals, those of national sovereignty, and the standards and norms of international law. If you were reading the room, you would see that that is the case, and would not have pressed “enter” on this poorly thought-through message. But no. You have given him a pass on his violation of Venezuelan sovereignty because of your shared dislike of the people he conspired to abduct. You sign off your your post on X with “Down with socialism. Long live freedom.” This is a non sequitur. Donald Trump is not an agent of freedom. He is an agent of corruption, greed, and unbridled power. He is plunging the United States into tyranny and dictatorship. But, apparently, because he dislikes socialism, that’s okay. You have abandoned the very foundations of international law to become a cheerleader for a dangerously unhinged, aspiring dictator who believes in “Might makes right.” But don’t take my word for it, here is Trump advisor Stephen Miller:

“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

And here’s Trump himself:

Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

“I don’t need international law,” he added. “I’m not looking to hurt people.”

Of course he’s looking to hurt people. He’s fine with killing people. He authorized and orchestrated the murder of scores of people in international waters, claiming they were “narcoterrorists” bent on attacking the United States (while piloting small powerboats that, from Venezuela, could never reach American waters.) We were supposed to take his word for it. Any proof or evidence of his claims was destroyed, and went to the bottom of the sea, along with those people who were killed without arrest, killed without trial. These acts, and Trump’s declaration of Venezuelan airspace as a “no fly zone” constituted acts of war. But Maduro was a bad guy, so you’re willing to brush that off, so long as Trump is supposedly fighting “socialism”.

Venezuela was apparently a test case. The day after his Venezuelan kidnapping outrage, Trump resumed his verbal campaign against Greenland. In Trump’s mind, because he wants it, he gets to have it. These are not the actions of a serious, responsible head of state. They are the musings of a mob boss armed with nuclear weapons. Is Greenland run by “narcoterrorists”? No. Is it a threat to the United States? No. Do the people of Greenland get a say in this? No. But because Trump claims he “needs it” for “national security”, he’s going to take it:

At a meeting with oil and gas executives at the White House earlier on Friday, Trump had said Greenland was crucial for US national security. “We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That’s what they’re going to do if we don’t. So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way,” he told reporters

His words, not mine. This is not a joke. This is a threat. To an ally.

How do you respond to that Mr. Poilievre? You’ve already abandoned the high ground of international law. How do you dissuade or prevent Trump from invading Greenland, an act of war which will destroy NATO and embolden America’s enemies? If you give in to him on Venezuela, on what grounds do you refuse him Greenland? Because after Greenland comes Canada. Trump will see this big space on the map north of the lower 48 States, east of Alaska, and west of Greenland. For the sake of “national security”, and to complete his continental empire, Trump logic will demand that gets to “have” Canada too. Your craven, servile congratulatory message to Donald Trump doesn’t sound like something that’s written by man who wants to be the Prime Minister of Canada, but someone angling to become governor of the 51st State.