CNN host Abby Phillip on Saturday invoked one of the world’s most recognizable actors in one of his most memorable roles to analyze President Donald Trump’s recent moves.
“Just 10 days into the new year, Donald Trump seems to be channeling his inner Leonardo DiCaprio and declaring himself the ‘king of the world,’” said Phillip on “Saturday Morning Table for Five.”
Phillip’s “king of the world” reference is, of course, to DiCaprio’s famous declaration in the 1997 classic “Titanic.” She then began to go down a list of the president’s actions.
“First, of course, the brazen raid and capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela …” Philip said.
The Trump administration conducted a U.S. military operation last week in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to capture Maduro, allegedly killing dozens of security personnel, and extradited him and his wife to face federal charges of narco-conspiracy and drug trafficking.
Phillip noted that “the plan for the aftermath” is “vague at best,” but said one thing is clear: Trump “wants the oil.” Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, and Trump has stated the U.S. will be “very strongly involved” in “the future” of its oil.
“Second, he’s threatened to do the same thing to other nations, from Colombia to Cuba,” said Phillip. “And third, his declaration that he’s considering military force to take over Greenland — because, as his advisor puts it, the U.S. is ‘entitled’ to own the NATO ally.”
Trump first floated the idea of annexing Greenland in his first term, but revisited the plan after capturing Maduro, maintaining that acquiring or taking over the self-governing territory of Denmark, even by U.S. military force, is vital “from the standpoint of national security.”
He has also signaled interest in Mexico, warning the country to get “their act together.”
“And finally, if it’s not clear yet, Trump says that the only thing limiting his powers on the world stage is, quote, his ‘own mortality,’” Phillip continued. “And to top it all off, he says the U.S. doesn’t ‘need international law.’”
Phillip argued this is “a whole lot” of the so-called “Donroe” doctrine, Trump’s twist on the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, in which then-president James Monroe warned European powers against further interfering in the Western Hemisphere regarding U.S. affairs.
New York Post correspondent Lydia Moynihan — who recently said on CNN that “certain cultures” are incompatible with America — had no trouble defending Trump’s actions, arguing that the Founding Fathers were “very clear.”
“‘There is no liberty without virtue,’” Moynihan said Saturday. “But look, what he’s saying is pretty in line with what the Monroe Doctrine has stated for hundreds of years, that we have a responsibility and the ability to have sovereignty in this hemisphere.”
Following the capture and extradition of Maduro last week, the State Department on social media stated, “This is OUR hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.”
