US President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, on January 16, 2026. JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/AP
Author of Une première histoire du trumpisme ("A First History of Trumpism") and Des Etats-Unis et le monde de George Washington à Donald Trump ("The United States and the World from George Washington to Donald Trump"), Maya Kandel is a specialist in American foreign policy.
Donald Trump, elected in 2016 on a platform denouncing "endless American wars," multiplied military interventions after returning to power in 2024, oversaw the removal from office of Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro, and is now threatening to seize Greenland. Does this mark a shift in his worldview?
Overthrowing Maduro and annexing Greenland were two issues he brought up during his first term. He has always had this Hobbesian view of the world, where only the law of the strongest matters. But during his first presidency, Trump was much less prepared than he is now, and he was not surrounded by people ready to implement his decisions. His first national security strategy, in 2017, was written by people generally considered to be "adults," more traditional Republicans. The one published in December 2025, by contrast, reflects his own vision of international relations.
