Which countries could be targeted by Trump after Venezuela?

2026-01-05 19:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US President Donald Trump's second term is being shaped by his foreign policy ambitions.

He has fulfilled his "threats" against Venezuela by capturing its president and his wife from their fortified compound in Caracas in a nighttime raid.

Meanwhile, according to the BBC, here are the countries that could be targeted by Trump after Venezuela?

Greenland

The US already has a military base in Greenland, Pituffik Space Base, but Trump wants the entire island.

"We need Greenland from a national security standpoint ," he told reporters, saying the region was filled with Russian and Chinese ships everywhere.

The vast Arctic island, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, is located approximately 3,200 km northeast of the US. It is rich in rare earth minerals, which are essential for the production of smartphones, electric vehicles and military equipment. Currently, China's production of rare earth metals is much larger than that of the US.

Greenland also occupies a key strategic location in the North Atlantic, giving it access to the increasingly important Arctic Circle. As the polar ice melts in the coming years, new shipping routes are expected to open up.

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, responded to Trump by describing the idea of ??US control over the island as "a fantasy."

"Enough with the pressure. Enough with the insinuations. Enough with the annexation fantasy. We are open to dialogue. We are open to discussions. But this must happen through the proper channels and with respect for international law ," he said.

Colombia

Just hours after the operation in Venezuela, Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro to be careful. Venezuela's western neighbor, Colombia, has significant oil reserves and is a major producer of gold, silver, emeralds, platinum and coal.

It is also a key hub for the region's drug trade, especially cocaine. Since the US began raiding ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in September, saying, without evidence, that they were transporting drugs, Trump has been embroiled in a spiraling dispute with the country's left-wing president.

The US imposed sanctions on Petros in October, saying he was allowing cartels to flourish. Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said Colombia was being “run by a sick man who loves to produce cocaine and sell it to the United States.”

" He won't be doing this for long ," he said.

Historically, Colombia has been a close ally in Washington's war on drugs, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars each year in military aid to fight the cartels.

Iran

Iran is currently facing massive anti-government protests, and Trump warned overnight that authorities there would face very serious consequences if they killed protesters.

"We're watching it closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to be hit very hard by the United States ," he told reporters on Air Force One.

Theoretically, Iran does not fall within the scope of the Donroe Doctrine, but Trump has previously threatened the Iranian regime with further action after striking its nuclear facilities last year. Those strikes came after Israel launched a large-scale operation aimed at destroying Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon, culminating in the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict.

At a meeting at Mar-a-Lago between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Iran was said to be at the top of the agenda. US media also reported that Netanyahu raised the possibility of new attacks on Iran in 2026.

Mexico

Trump's rise to power in 2016 was defined by his calls to "build a wall" along the southern border with Mexico. On his first day back in office in 2025, he signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico "America's Gulf."

He has often claimed that Mexican authorities are not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs or illegal immigrants into the US.

Speaking on Sunday, he said drugs were "flowing rapidly" through Mexico and added that the cartels there were very powerful. Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has publicly rejected any US military action on Mexican soil.

Cuba

The island nation, just 90 miles (145 km) south of Florida, has been under U.S. sanctions since the early 1960s. It has maintained close relations with Nicolás Maduro's Venezuela. Trump suggested on Sunday that U.S. military intervention there was not necessary because Cuba was "ready to fall."

Venezuela reportedly supplies roughly 30% of Cuba's oil, leaving Havana exposed if supplies drop with Maduro's departure.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio - who is the son of Cuban immigrants - has long called for regime change in Cuba, telling reporters on Saturday: "If I lived in Havana and was in government, I would be concerned - at least a little. When the president speaks, you have to take him seriously." /BBC