Enabling the politics of bullying?

US President Donald Trump is a bully who threatens world peace and global stability, and the world must stand up to him. Using Trump’s logic, Putin was justified in invading Ukraine.

Credit: History in HD / Unsplash

Acting like a bully in a schoolyard is something most of us can sadly recall from experience. When a bully is not challenged but excused or ignored, the abuse does not stop. On the contrary, the bully grows bolder, targets more people and pushes boundaries further.

Regrettably, US President Donald Trump’s way of doing politics is enabling politics of bullying.

Trump has openly expressed clear interest not only to annex Canada and Greenland but also to bring regime change in various parts of the world. The US has a long history of bringing about regime change and the record is overwhelmingly one of failure.

Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are clear examples. Each intervention was justified in the name of freedom or security, yet, each resulted in prolonged conflict, massive human suffering and outcomes far removed from promises made. Imposing change from outside seldom leads to democracy and often leads to political chaos.

Recently, Trump flexed his muscles in Venezuela and had President Nicolás Maduro captured. Although Maduro was a brutal dictator who impoverished his country, and few shed any tears over his removal, the crux of the issue was how he was deposed, which is clearly against international law.

Trump justified the American intervention on the basis that Maduro and his regime were trafficking large quantities of narcotics into the US. Yet, for many, the real motive was Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Venezuela has already ‘agreed’ to hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US. Ironically, Trump had pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2024 and had been serving a 45-year jail term in a US prison.

If Trump’s objective in Venezuela was to restore democracy, his actions undermined that goal. He sidelined genuine opposition leaders and, instead, chose to engage with elements of Maduro’s regime. By discarding those who truly represented Venezuelan democracy, Trump prioritised strategic expediency over a democratic transition.

With respect to his fixation on acquiring Greenland under the guise of national security, Trump risks undermining NATO and alienating America’s allies. Although at Davos Trump said he had reached a framework of a deal with NATO that satisfies him on Greenland, he did not answer directly when asked if the US would gain sovereignty over Greenland.

Earlier in the week the European Parliament stated that it “unequivocally condemns the statements made by the Trump administration regarding Greenland, which constitute a blatant challenge to international law, to the principles of the UN charter and to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally”.

Trump also threatened to place tariffs on nations that opposed his plans to annex Greenland, but later backed down.

Using Trump’s logic, Vladimir Putin was justified in invading Ukraine, China would be right to claim Taiwan and Argentina can invade the Falkland Islands.

Once might is a substitute for international law, the world is not safe. In her address to members of the diplomatic corps, President Myriam Spiteri Debono stated: “A world in which might is right would be detrimental to all counties, especially small nations.”

Some defend Trump in the name of the American dream, lambasting critics as “communists”. However, the American dream was never meant to be about bullying, arrogance or domination. It was, and still is, about democracy, liberty and opportunities in the ‘land of the free’. These values have made the nation a beacon for the world. Trump’s behaviour, however, is slowly shattering the values that define the American dream.

Many people are becoming increasingly anxious about global peace and the prospect of unchecked aggression. Pope Leo recently decried, “war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading”.

As a citizen of the world, I feel compelled to add my voice of concern, as silence is complicity. As an MP, I call on the Labour government to stop massaging Trump’s inflated ego and convey the message that bullying is never acceptable.

(This article was published on Times of Malta – 24 January, 2026)