Trump's playbook on Greenland, Venezuela, and Iran is about taking on China, analysts say

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In 10 days, Donald Trump captured the Venezuelan president, spooked European leaders with talk of annexing Greenland, and imposed 25% tariffs on anyone trading with Iran. The common thread may be America’s determination to challenge China and its dominance of critical minerals.

By deposing Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and taking over the country’s oil industry, the U.S. can curb Chinese access to crucial resources and mining investments. By annexing Greenland, it could keep rivals out of emerging trade routes and, potentially, mining of minerals. By tariffing anyone trading with Iran, as protests threaten the survival of its regime, the U.S. can penalize both the Middle Eastern country and China for buying oil from it.

“The connection here is the U.S.-China rivalry, and to a lesser extent U.S.-Russia strategic frictions,” Dan Alamariu, chief geopolitical strategist at Alpine Macro, told CNBC over email.

“The U.S. simply doesn’t want either China or Russia – or Iran for that matter – operating out of Venezuela. It doesn’t want Chinese economic influence in Greenland, while it wants to counter Russian pushes into the Arctic. And it wants to weaken Iran and Venezuela, which are Beijing and Moscow friendly.”