From Greenland to Cuba: After Venezuela, which countries could be in Trump's sight?

US President Donald Trump launched an operation in Venezuela to capture counterpart Nicolas Maduro on, accusing him of narco-terrorism.

Following the invasion in the capital city of Venezuela, Trump declared that the US will "run" Venezuela for now, gaining control over the country's massive oil reserves.

The move raised fear that Venezuela could not just be an isolated act but part of a broader goal to reshape regional power dynamics through force and pressure.

Trump had kept no secrecy about his ambition to gain control over Greenland and Canada once he was elected for the second term in 2024.

Within hours of capturing Maduro, Trump issued warnings to other governments. He accused Colombia's president of producing drugs, while also hinting action against Cuba and Mexico. He also reiterated that Greenland should be controlled by the US.

Greenland fears loom

The speculations about Trump launching a similar operation in Greenland intensified following a social media post by Katie Miller, wife of Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. She shared an image of Greenland painted in the colours of the US flag and captioned it "soon", shortly after Maduro was captured.

The post attracted backlash from Denmark and Greenland.

Jesper Moller Sorensen, Denmark’s ambassador to Washington, issued a "friendly reminder" that Denmark expected “full respect” for its territorial integrity as a close US ally.

Meanwhile, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called the post “disrespectful”.

“Relations between nations and peoples are built on mutual respect and international law not on symbolic gestures that disregard our status and our rights,” Nielsen wrote on X.

He also called to calm things down, saying, “There is neither reason for panic nor for concern. Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was more direct and said Trump should stop the threats. “It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” she said.

“The US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom," she added.

However, Trump on board the Air Force One said, “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

In another interview with The Atlantic, " Trump said, “But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defence.”

Trump warns Colombia, Cuba and Mexico

Trump, in a sharply worded warning, hinted that the Colombian president might face the same fate as the Maduro. While an interaction with the media, Trump said, Colombian President Gustavo Petro must “watch his a**”.

“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his a**,” Trump told reporters.

Petro had condemned the attack on Venezuela, terming it an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America and warned they could lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Trump, however, has openly warned of a military action in Colombia.

“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump said.

The US president has also remarked hat the Cuban government could fall soon. Similar statements were made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC News.

Rubio added, “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.”

Further, Trump has also compared Cuba to Venezuela during a press conference, saying, “It’s very similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba, but we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba and are living in this country.”

For Mexico, Trump said, “something will have to be done” and accused Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum of allowing drug cartels to operate freely.

In an interview with Fox News, he suggested that Mexico’s leadership was failing to control organised crime.

Rising concerns

Statements following the Venezuela operation have sparked concern among US allies. The French foreign ministry said it stood in “solidarity” with Denmark, adding that “borders cannot be changed by force”.

Leaders in Finland, Sweden and Norway also supported Denmark, with Finnish President Alexander Stubb saying, “No one decides for Greenland and Denmark but Greenland and Denmark themselves.”

US' nemesis China urged the country to stop g the “so-called China threat as an excuse to seek personal gain” as Trump claimed Russian and Chinese presence "all over" Greenland's coast.