After just over a fortnight in the White House, Donald Trump has brought to life his “America First” agenda with considerable force, issuing threats to large swathes of the globe.
The imposition of tariffs on Canada and China, with the threat of more on the European bloc, the UK and the BRICS nations, the freeze on all USAID and threats against Greenland, Mexico and Panama have impacted 161 countries, equivalent to 83 per cent of the globe, a tally by The Independent has found.
A number of the remaining 34 countries have expressed concern the imposition of tariffs elsewhere could have a knock on effect on their own trade, even if Trump does not impose them directly. While the Caribbean nations, for example, have not been directly threatened by Mr Trump, Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister Gaston Browne described the US leaders’ tariff plans as the “largest threat to the region” late last month.
Mr Trump’s freeze on all USAID had, by far, the most significant impact on countries across the globe. According to the latest available data from last year, the freeze cut aid from 141 nations.
The worst affected by this was Ukraine, which received more than $6 billion (£4.8 bn) from USAID in 2024, down from $16 billion in 2023.
Only Israel and Egypt were exempt from that freeze.
Over the weekend, Mr Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico, 25 per cent on Canada and an extra 10 per cent on China, though he said the imposition on Mexico would be postponed by a month. Previously, he had also announced far higher tariffs on China, closer to 60 per cent.
He later said that tariffs on the European Union would “definitely happen”. Regarding the UK, he described the group of countries as “out of line” but that he believed “that one can be worked out”.
Regarding the BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, he has threatened to impose tariffs if they do not accept his demand of committing to not create a new currency.
He had already labelled India a “very big abuser” of trade while he was on the campaign trail and vowed to use tariffs to correct trade imbalances.
Regarding Russia, Mr Trump said just two days after his inauguration that he would have “no choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States and other participating countries” if Vladimir Putin did not end his war in Ukraine.
Regarding Greenland and Panama, Mr Trump has made threats of military intervention.
At the end of last month, when asked about his comments regarding the US takeover of Greenland, he said: “I think we're going to have it.”
When pressed on the Panama Canal over the weekend, he said the US would use “something very powerful” to take it.
“China is running the Panama Canal that was not given to China, that was given to Panama foolishly, but they violated the agreement, and we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” he told reporters.
Trump has also taken the first military action of his presidency, ordering airstrikes on Isis positions in Somalia. The government in Somalia said they were informed of the strikes over the weekend.
