Exactly right. At very best, what Trump effectively does is apply a short-term “use or else!” code to a given geographical entity. Only agencies reporting to him are bound to comply.
It’s not functionally different than a federal agency applying a FIPs code to a US state or a county within a state. No one thinks that the federal government renamed Fulton County, Georgia as “13121”. When “13121” is used, say, in applications for HHS grants to Atlanta-area private-non-profit healthcare facilities … no one wrings their hands about it.
What’s different about the Trump geographical codings is that there’s no function intended whatsoever. Making others wrong their hands about it is the beginning and the end. Well, that plus stroking Trump’s ego.
See also the various maps his social media team** posts to Truth Social. “Oh noes! This one’s got Canada and Greenland covered in stars and stripes! Must express much concern NOW! Invasion is imminent! [Sam Kinison style yelling]”
OK, take a deep breath. That was EXACTLY the reaction his social media team sought to elicit. Giftwrapped for him and your local neighborhood MAGA crowd.
** C’mon, it ain’t Trump doing all that. Not enough hours in the day.
Nevertheless, there are also risks to ignoring threats to sovereignty. Iceland summoned the US ambassador not because they took an AI-slop social media post seriously, but because “it’s just a joke, man” is a lie. Sometimes it’s also a trial balloon (see also: Ukraine).
I hear you, but the U.S. isn’t Russia yet. It’s hard for me to apply Russia-Ukraine as a comparable to The U.S.-Canada, say. Trump doesn’t have Putin’s level of power over his nation.
Nevertheless, I agree that Iceland, Denmark/Greenland, and Canada should definitely fire back when and as they deem necessary. Let the adults currently abrogating their duties know that their land can’t be had without blood, and lots of it.
That’s possibly because you’re not in Canada. People here are talking this all very seriously, even if we think a boots-on-the-ground invasion is unlikely.
Now he’ll have to find new names for New York and New Hampshire, both of which were named after a couple of British shitholes. Worse, Virginia was named after a British monarch.
Trump is the commander in chief. Recently, when Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Pacific Command was asked if he would follow orders to attack Canada, he replied “Canada is a close ally,”
But he added, “I follow the orders of the president.”
So yes, Trump does have absolute control over the military and who they attack.
ETA: shoulda read the whole thread before jumping in - but in my defense, some of us locals don’t get out much…
“The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” was officially renamed “Rhode Island” via a statewide referendum in 2020, although many physical instances of the old name remain on public buildings, etc. [and not hidden behind tarps…] But, yes, the people of the state itself decided on the change. Voters strip 'Providence Plantations' from Rhode Island's formal name | PBS News
That’s an interesting case, because since Rhode Island etc was a founding colony, it was never admitted but was named in Article 1. So we do have a case where a state decided to rename itself to something different from what the Constitution states. It’s not a problem because everyone understands that Rhode Island has the power to rename itself, and it’s clear enough that “The State Of Rhode Island” is the same state with a new name, so none of its rights are affected.
No constitutional amendment to rename a state would ever be ratified, because no constitutional amendment is ever going to be ratified again, and if it were, it certainly wouldn’t be a state rename.
Trump could issue an EO saying that everywhere the federal government references Rhode Island, it’s now called Trump Island. Or Congress could pass that same law. Google would probably roll over. SCOTUS might. Rhode Island would ignore it, and most other states probably would too.
Trump’s ability to break laws is only as strong as anyone’s desire to stop him, but his ability to make policy depends on his ability to force others to abide by it. He doesn’t control states, so he can only pretend to rename them.
Absolute control? Disagree, but can’t exactly prove it on a whiteboard. But there is a ready mechanism for Trump’s swift removal that doesn’t exist in Russia for Putin.
If Trump were to go that far off the reservation (which I consider a patent impossibility, but can’t prove it), he risks insta-impeachment and insta-conviction in the US Senate. “Would never happen – too many Republican sycophants!” Nevertheless, Trump will never roll those dice.
In the end, Trump’s just not going to do it. “But how do you know? HOW DO YOU KNOW?!?!?!?”
Well, I don’t know that. I do know that direct orders can be slow-rolled, or complied with maliciously (e.g. “Whoopsie – sorry Mr. President, the guidance system went awry. It will take a few weeks to get the parts and get it fixed.”) Trump is not a field marshal – the orders he’d give will be vague enough and militarily naive enough that heady officers on the ground can “comply” without risking harm to Canada.
I vaguely remember a Straight Dope column in which Cecil or the SDSAB wrote that a high-level member of the Nixon administration (Secretary of Defense?) informed the Pentagon to let him know if any “unusual” orders came from the White House. They were apparently afraid that Nixon would decide to nuke the world in retaliation for the Watergate scandal which was forcing his resignation.
I think most of the higher-ups that might have gone that route have been replaced by loyalists. The possibility of that kind of indirect disobedience has been greatly diminished.
I hope the administration’s clairvoyance was especially finely tuned when they sought to replace anyone at the command level who might be “disloyal”. Loyalty – even sincerely held loyalty – can be (and heck: among the powerful, usually is) situational.
Backing Trump politically on the home front is not the same as backing the totality of his “foreign policy” and especially his military “leadership”.
I’m not. My impression is that we’re just happily ignoring the stupidity. Online maps like Google still label Lake Ontario with its correct name for Canadian IP addresses. I’m doubtful that many printed maps will change since the expectation is that it will all change back once the dotard leaves office or drops dead.
I expect him, and every fucking American citizen to do the right thing and get rid of the dementia patient in the Whitehouse. Sadly, everyone seems content to just watch the shit-show and shrug.
I don’t remember Cecil’s column, but this was reported in a number of places, always denied by the military. As @Smapti points out, this is likely because the message that the military would ever disobey a presidential order is not one anyone cares to record for posterity.
I also recall that on January 6, Pence had to call out the National Guard, despite the fact that he did not have the authority. Powers that be at the highest levels of the military tend to be honorable and sane. They fully understand that the Constitution is not a suicide pact.
