Donald Trump Threatens Panama With AI Image of U.S. Flag in Canal

Donald Trump tweeted threats against the federation of Panama implicit the weekend, suggesting successful posts connected Truth Social that helium would prehend power of the Panama Canal if his demands weren’t met. The president-elect adjacent included an AI-generated representation of an American emblem successful the mediate of the Canal, making it the 2nd clip Trump has threatened an state federation with AI images aft helium made a akin menace against Canada.

“Welcome to the United States Canal!” Trump wrote connected Sunday, successful a connection that appeared crossed respective societal media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook.

The posts included an representation that, astatine archetypal glance, isn’t evidently AI-generated. But the bottommost close country includes the connection Grok, the generative AI instrumentality created by X that’s some a chatbot and allows radical to make images with substance prompts. The Grok watermark was cropped retired connected platforms similar Instagram and Facebook.

It’s not instantly wide wherever Trump oregon his societal media squad recovered the image, but the president-elect has been known to dispersed sensationalistic images recovered connected Twitter, particularly erstwhile they’re hateful and racist. Trump posted AI images of cats and dogs successful September erstwhile helium helped dispersed the prevarication that Haitian immigrants successful Ohio were eating home animals.

Trump archetypal suggested helium would effort to instrumentality ownership of the Panama Canal a time earlier successful a connection dispersed transverse 2 Truth Social posts Saturday.

“The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, owed to its captious relation to America’s Economy and National Security,” Trump wrote. “A unafraid Panama Canal is important for U.S. Commerce, and accelerated deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports.”

The posts past went connected to rationalize wherefore the U.S. should person power implicit the Panama Canal, conscionable arsenic it did erstwhile it was created successful the aboriginal 20th-century. France started the task successful the 1880s, but gave up until the U.S. took implicit successful 1904 and completed gathering the canal a decennary later. President Jimmy Carter signed a pact successful the 1970s to springiness power of the Canal backmost to Panama but Trump would similar to undo that.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, particularly knowing the bonzer generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump wrote. “This implicit ‘rip-off’ of our Country volition instantly stop.”

Trump past went connected to accidental that unless concessions are made, the U.S. volition “demand” power of the Canal, fundamentally a menace of warfare with a overseas ally.

“The United States has a vested involvement successful the secure, efficient, and reliable cognition of the Panama Canal, and that was ever understood. We would and volition NEVER fto it autumn into the incorrect hands!” Trump wrote.

“It was not fixed for the payment of others, but simply arsenic a token of practice with america and Panama. If the principles, some motivation and legal, of this magnanimous motion of giving are not followed, past we volition request that the Panama Canal beryllium returned to us, successful full, and without question. To the Officials of Panama, delight beryllium guided accordingly!” Trump continued.

The president of Panama evidently took Trump’s threats seriously, defending his country’s territorial integrity successful a video posted to X.

“Every quadrate metre of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zones is portion of Panama, and it volition proceed to be,” President José Raúl Mulino said Sunday, according to an English connection translation by Bloomberg.

🇵🇦 Mensaje del Presidente José Raúl Mulino 🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/DMXU8qAuNT

— José Raúl Mulino (@JoseRaulMulino) December 22, 2024

Trump responded to Mulino with much unhinged nonsense astatine an lawsuit called AmericaFest, organized by the far-right governmental organizations Turning Point USA.

“Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said. “Because we’re being ripped disconnected astatine the Panama Canal similar we’re being ripped disconnected everyplace else.”

Trump echoed the statements he’d already said connected societal media during his unrecorded speech.

“If the principles, some motivation and legal, of this magnanimous motion of giving are not followed, past we volition request that the Panama Canal beryllium returned to us, successful full, rapidly and without question,” Trump said, according to the CBC.

After the speech, Trump wrote connected Truth Social “we’ll spot astir that” successful effect to President Mulino’s message, making it wide he’s going to beryllium arsenic antagonistic arsenic possible.

This isn’t adjacent the archetypal clip Trump has utilized AI-generated images to endanger a overseas state with invasion. The billionaire dipshit antecedently posted an AI-image of himself lasting connected a upland with an American emblem and Europe’s Matterhorn successful the distance. It appears the representation was expected to symbolize Trump conquering Canada, though the representation intelligibly represented earthy formations successful Europe.

Trump besides included a menace against Greenland connected Sunday successful an announcement that helium was making Ken Howery the ambassador to Denmark.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom passim the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and power of Greenland is an implicit necessity,” Trump wrote. “Ken volition bash a fantastic occupation successful representing the interests of the United States.”

Some commentators importune that Trump’s threats against overseas countries are conscionable trolling oregon a “joke,” but they look to beryllium successful implicit denial astir what the state really faces successful the coming months and years. We’ll find retired soon capable whether Trump tries to marque immoderate moves against allied countries. It’s an wholly caller world. And cipher knows what lies up with immoderate certainty.