Why Trump is the opposite of TACO
FEB 2026partial transcript
GBN Interviewer:
Now, we've seen this deal with Donald Trump and NATO in regards to Greenland. Does this show that Trump always backs down or always chickens out? This kind of TACO phrase … or is this 4D chess? Was this a great example of the DONroe doctrine?
0:17
Interviewee John Hulsman
[laughter] I think the TACO thing is wishful thinking by a bunch of Democrat Wilsonians [who] they don't understand a fundamental fact about Donald Trump. … biography is everything … a man, his history in the context….
Donald Trump is a New York property developer. New York property developers have a way of working that is different than the mannered European diplomats who have accomplished nothing over the last two generations.That is that you ask for the stars [in order to] end up with the moon.
1:00
…everyone since time began has been criticizing Europe, for instance, about its defense spending.
The elegant Obama, the most overrated politician of our era, rightly in term paper fashion, got this right and then accomplished nothing, being polite to Europeans and lying to them at cocktail parties.
Rather, Donald Trump says, "If you don't do exactly what I want, I'm leaving NATO tomorrow." '
Hysteria ensues' in the Guardian and elsewhere. The Europeans get their act together and then he says, "Well, actually, I won't leave, but you have to spend 3.5% of GDP in the near term." …
And so Europeans say, "Aha, he backed down. He didn't leave NATO. It's a TACO."
The guy just got a 3.5% commitment from Europeans while Obama accomplished sweet nothing. And this is what he does over and over and over and over again. Is that backing down or is that negotiating?
That's what New York property developers do. You ask for the stars and you get the moon.
And that's what he's done in Greenland. He's been hysterical. And what will he get? Some sort of deal where resources are going to be allowed to be mined by the Americans while … the Danes have done nothing ever to open up the rare earth market there. They're sitting on their hands. Their new-found love for Greenland is beyond hypocrisy [examples given]. And so Donald Trump going back to the Monroe Doctrine, … the DONroe doctrine, the Trump Corollary of the Roosevelt Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine…
And it explains what going on with Marco Rubio in Panama … in Greenland …what just went on in Venezuela. It's all the same thing. In a multi-polar world with the U.S. as chairman of the board, but a lot of other board members. You secure your near abroad. Power is a wellspring that springs from your people and your neighborhood. That's how spheres of influence work.
3:22
He's just thrown the Chinese out of Venezuela. They met with Maduro three minutes before he was captured. That made a point. He's thrown the Chinese companies out of either end of the Isthmus of Panama. …A move Teddy Roosevelt would love. And now he's looking at the do-nothing Danes and saying, "Either you deal with us on this or we're just going to walk in and take it and you and three dog sleds aren't going to stop us."
3:44
Cue the hysteria.Cue the Davos men going crazy. And now we're talking about a deal [explains possibilities]. So Trump can go back to his base and say, "I have the sovereignty for these specific areas, de facto."
4:27
De jure, the Danes can feel good because after all, all the Europeans care about is symbolism anyway. They don't care about doing anything. So everybody's happy with that.
And then somebody in the Guardian will snidely say he backed down: "It's a TACO" - where he just got leasing rights forever. He just got mineral rights without asking the Danes. He just got exposure to Golden Dome when a missile defense shield is built. He's got everything he wants and de facto has sovereignty over what he needs.
Who's the winner there? While the Europeans cosplay about mattering, we care as realists about substance. And on the substance, [Trump has] done another ask for the stars get the moon thing. And this is part of what he does. But the amazing thing is no one seems to notice.
5:13
from:
"Trump defeated Europe over Greenland. Now Starmer will fall"
@GBNewsOnline 1.3M views
Feb 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6LKobNcFkY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hulsman
https://johnjohn-hulsman.com/