Trump Turns Into A Tough Emperor

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                         

Donald Trump is acting just like an Emperor, not a king.  A king rules over a single kingdom with one primary culture or nation, whereas an emperor holds a higher rank and rules an empire, which typically spans multiple territories, diverse ethnic groups, or subordinate kingdoms as a "king of kings"

Donald Trump has expressed desires or made moves to acquire, annex, or exert direct control over Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal, alongside aggressive interventions or claims regarding Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Gaza, the Chagos Islands, and parts of Iran.

Here is one of the most famous and successful emperors in the world so far.  

Augustus (Roman Empire): He transformed Rome from a republic into a powerful empire, launched the Pax Romana (a 200-year period of relative peace), and set the standard for imperial rule in the West.  Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace when the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict.  Emperor Augustus generally protected and favored the Jewish people, maintaining religious tolerance and legal privileges across the Roman Empire. He supported King Herod the Great in Judea, funded daily sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple, and safeguarded Jewish worship, Sabbath rights, and temple tax collections in the Diaspora.  Imperial Cult Pressures: Integrating Judea into the empire brought underlying friction regarding emperor worship, even though Augustus generally accommodated Jewish monotheism.

Primary Targets of Acquisition or Control

• Greenland (Denmark): Trump repeatedly pushed to buy or annex the semi-autonomous territory for its strategic Arctic position and rare-earth minerals, culminating in tariff threats against European allies in early 2026 before signing a trilateral security framework deal with Denmark and Greenland. 
• Canada: Trump floated proposals to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state, using trade pressure and tariff threats.
• Panama Canal (Panama): Trump demanded a reversal of Chinese influence and voiced intentions for the U.S. to reclaim or reacquire direct control over the canal.
• Other Regions & Territorial Suggestions
  • Venezuela: After proposing an invasion during his first term, his administration subsequently moved against President Nicolás Maduro's government and claimed a significant role in running the country's security and political transition.
  • Gaza Strip: Trump proposed a U.S. takeover and the resettlement of local populations.
  • Cuba: He suggested an impending U.S. takeover or transition.
  • Chagos Islands: His administration considered purchasing or challenging the UK's handover of the archipelago to Mauritius.
  • Iran: Amid regional conflicts, Trump suggested seizing control of strategic assets like the Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island.

  This is the act of an emperor, not a President, and especially the President of the United States.  The Washington Post hit it right this morning when they had an article saying that Trump admires or loves those with power.  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/10/19/putin-dupes-trump-again-zelensky-ukraine-pay-price/
• Donald Trump has frequently expressed admiration for powerful political and business figures, often favoring authoritarian "strongmen," wealthy executives, and high-ranking members of his inner circle.  

  Authoritarian and Foreign Leaders-himself-ignoring Senate and Constitution 
• According to public records and media analyses by outlets like NPR and CNN, Trump has repeatedly praised leaders who wield centralized or absolute power:

  

  Vladimir Putin (Russia): Praised by Trump as a strong, powerful, and intelligent leader.

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• 

  Xi Jinping (China): Described as a brilliant and tough ruler who governs a massive population with an iron hand.
• Kim Jong Un (North Korea): Called "smart" and "strong like granite" for maintaining absolute control.
• Viktor Orbán (Hungary): Lauded as one of the strongest and most formidable leaders in Europe.
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey): Appreciated as a capable, strong friend who exercises decisive authority
• :

  

  
  Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani) Present President of Syria, a terrorist and still is to his population of Syria, loved by Trump.  
• "A very strong leader" and "tough guy": After hosting al-Sharaa at the White House, Trump praised his authority, stating: "He's a very strong leader. He comes from a very tough place and he's a tough guy... I liked him, I get along with him".
• "Not a choir boy": No, he was Julani, leader of ISIS, Defending al-Sharaa's leadership and rough background during military tensions in early 2026, Trump remarked: "He is a rough guy; he is not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn't do it. But Syria is coming together, really coming together well".
• "Fantastic" and "Highly Respected": During a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump called al-Sharaa "fantastic," "highly respected," and a "great leader" who successfully unified and stabilized the country.
• "Major advocate" of peace: Trump further characterized the Syrian leader as a key partner for Middle Eastern stability and a "major advocate" of regional peace efforts.
The Trump administration followed these statements by lifting several economic sanctions, removing al-Sharaa from the global terrorist list, and initiating a partnership to include Syria in the U.S.-led coalition to defeat ISIS.  ISIS is the terrorist group most ugly, most fearsome in chopping off people's heads.  Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (born Ahmed al-Sharaa) served as an operative and regional leader for the Islamic State's predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), before splitting from the group. He initially joined the organization in Iraq, rose to become the emir of the Nineveh region, and was later dispatched to Syria in 2011 to establish its Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra,   Jolani joined Al-Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion, was captured and held at Camp Bucca (2006–2011), and later rejoined the insurgent network. Syria is facing a fragile political transition under President Ahmed al-Sharaa following the 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad, marked by severe economic devastation, localized armed conflicts, humanitarian strain affecting over 15 million people, and security pressures involving regional neighbors like Israel and Turkey.   

Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. President Donald Trump chose former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim president of Venezuela following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro. Trump favored her over opposition leader María Corina Machado, reportedly viewing Rodríguez as a more pragmatic and capable operator to maintain stability and work on oil and security interests.  Trump's Rationale: According to The New York Times and BBC News, Trump and administration officials doubted that opposition leader María Corina Machado BBC News,  could control state institutions or prevent violent chaos without heavy U.S. intervention.  Pragmatic Engagement: Rodríguez has engaged with U.S. officials regarding oil access, trade, and economic stabilization, despite her background as a longtime socialist official in the Chávez and Maduro governments.



Trump dislikes the one person who is an honest leader, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019.  Born in Kryvyi Rih into a Russian-speaking Jewish family, Zelenskyy obtained a law degree at the city's Institute of Economics, but instead pursued a career in comedy and entertainment. Zelenskyy co-founded the production company Kvartal 95, which produced films, cartoons, and television shows including the television series Servant of the People, in which he played a fictional Ukrainian president. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party with the same name as the television show was founded in March 2018 by Zelenskyy and other associates of Kvartal 95. During his campaign in the 2019 presidential election, Zelenskyy positioned himself as anti-establishment and anti-corruption, and had already been a frontrunner in opinion polls months before he declared his candidacy.Zelensky is Jewish, which is a big step for him to become the first President in the World that is Jewish.  

Lebanon -Israel War of 1982, Operation Peace For The Galilee

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                               

The 1982 Lebanon War (Operation Peace for the Galilee) began on June 6, 1982, 9 years after the Yom Kippur War.  44 years ago.  [It is still continuing with some different antagonists, called Hezbollas. ]

• Causes: Triggered by cross-border rocket and guerrilla attacks from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) against northern Israel, alongside the attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.   The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition recognized internationally as the official representative of the Palestinian people.
• Major Attacks and Actions Against Israel and Israelis
  • 1964–1967 (Founding and Early Guerrilla Phase): Formed under the Arab League, the PLO and groups like Fatah initiated border raids, sabotage, and guerrilla attacks against Israeli infrastructure and settlements from bases in neighboring Arab countries.
  • 1970–1971 (Jordanian Civil War / Black September): After attempting to subvert or challenge the Jordanian monarchy, the PLO was violently ousted from Jordan by King Hussein’s forces, after which it relocated its main operations base to Lebanon.
  • 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre: Operatives from the Black September organization (linked to Fatah/PLO) infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany, murdering 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches.
  • 1974 Ma'alot School Massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a PLO-affiliated faction, seized a school in Ma'alot, Israel, resulting in the deaths of 21 Israeli schoolchildren and several adults.
  • 1978 Coastal Highway Massacre: Fatah militants hijacked a civilian bus along the Haifa-Tel Aviv coastal highway, shooting at passing cars and the bus, which left 35 Israelis dead and dozens wounded. Fatah (officially the Palestinian National Liberation Movement) is a major Palestinian nationalist and social democratic political party, and the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Founded in the late 1950s (commonly cited around 1957–1959) by figures including Yasser Arafat, Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), and Salah Khalaf. 
  • 1982 Lebanon War: Operating extensively from southern Lebanon to shell northern Israeli towns, the PLO drew a full-scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, culminating in the PLO’s expulsion from Beirut and the relocation of its leadership to Tunisia.
  •                       Continued Activity of PLO 
  • 1985 Achille Lauro Hijacking: The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), a faction within the PLO umbrella, hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered Leon Klinghoffer, a disabled American-Jewish passenger.
    
                                              Yasser Arafat, top terrorist
    
  • Post-1993 Violations and Incitement: Following the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords in which Yasser Arafat formally recognized Israel and renounced terrorism, Israel's Government Press Office and international monitors accused the PLO/Palestinian Authority of breaches, including failure to consistently curb militant infrastructure, delay in formally amending anti-Israel clauses in the Palestinian National Covenant (eventually addressed in 1998), and ongoing political incitement.
  • 
                       Sharon and Begin, both PMs of Israel but separately.

• Objectives: Led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the initial aim was to push PLO forces 40 kilometers north of Israel's border, though goals expanded to expelling Syrian forces and reshaping Lebanon's political landscape.                  
  
  
  

• Major Operations:
• The Israeli Air Force destroyed Syrian air defenses in Operation Mole Cricket 19. Operation Mole Cricket 19 (Hebrew: מבצע ערצב-19) was a massive Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and air-to-air combat campaign launched by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) against Syrian forces.
• Syria's air force entered Lebanese airspace in 1982 to defend Syrian ground troops and surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries in the Bekaa Valley, and to counter Israeli air dominance after Israel launched its June 1982 invasion of Lebanon.  During 1982, the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon was a major military theater during the 1982 Lebanon War (Operation Peace for Galilee), highlighted by Operation Mole Cricket 19 on June 9, 1982, which became one of the largest air battles since World War II.
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) advanced to besiege West Beirut for 10 weeks.  During the Lebanese Civil War, West Beirut primarily housed leftist, Muslim-majority factions, the civil government, and Palestinian populations/guerrillas,  The Lebanese Civil War was a 15-year multi-sided conflict lasting from April 13, 1975, to October 13, 1990.  Israel's War waa sandwiched inbetween.  
• Human Cost & Atrocities: The conflict resulted in thousands of casualties. Lebanese Christian Phalangist militiamen committed the Sabra and Shatila massacre inside Palestinian refugee camps under the observation of Israeli forces, drawing severe international condemnation.  The Sabra and Shatila massacre was the mass killing of between 700 and 3,500 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians. It took place from September 16 to September 18, 1982, in the Sabra neighborhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon.  This was after the war that began in June.  
  
                                  Major Saad Haddad
• The Christain Phalanagists were friends of Israel who were helping out by guarding the perimeter of Israel from the  Lebanon and Syrian terrorists.Major Saad Haddad was the head.  While closely associated with the broader Lebanese Christian right-wing movement, he actually commanded the Free Lebanon Army (later renamed the South Lebanon Army). He was a Lebanese Army officer who broke away to form an Israeli-backed, Christian-dominated militia that operated along the border to protect the region and serve as a buffer for northern Israel.  He had an arrrangement with Israel that if he was killed, Israel would care for his children.  Following the death of Major Saad Haddad—the founder of the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army (SLA)—in 1984, his family relocated to Israel, where his children grew up, integrated into Israeli society, and pursued advanced careers.   The most prominent public account regarding his children involves his daughter, Arza Haddad, and their trajectory in Israel.   Fleeing to Israel: Arza was only three years old when Major Haddad died of cancer in 1984. After completing high school in Lebanon, she fled across the border to live permanently in Israel.   Academic and Professional Achievement: She integrated fully into Israeli society, attending the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. She went on to graduate with a master's degree in Aeronautics, specializing in research on Ramjet missile defense engines.  Life in Israel: Arza became the valedictorian of her master's graduation class. She has publicly stated that her adult life is entirely rooted in Israel and that she has no intentions of returning to Lebanon.   The broader SLA community experienced a massive migration wave to Israel later in May 2000 following the sudden withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from southern Lebanon.    The SLA community in Israel consists of former Lebanese militia fighters and their families who were allied with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the South Lebanon conflict.   However, Major Haddad’s immediate family had already established their ties and refuge in Israel much earlier due to his foundational alliance with the country.  May 2000, the SLA collapsed. Fearing severe reprisals and treason trials from Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, thousands of SLA members and their families fled across the border into Israel.
• Aftermath:
  • The PLO leadership and Yasser Arafat were forced to evacuate to Tunisia.
  • Israel withdrew to a southern security zone in Lebanon, which it occupied until 2000.
  • The war contributed directly to the formation and rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party with an active paramilitary wing whose military and security activities have been prohibited by the Lebanese government since March 2026, amid the 2026 Lebanon war.  It started in 1982 by the Iranian religious people, Shiite clerics.   Hezbollah actively engages in Holocaust denial and spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories. Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Lebanese Shia cleric and an influential ideological figure associated with Hezbollah, made a number of statements expressing hostility toward Jews as a group.  The anti-Semitism of Hezbollah leaders and spokesmen combines the image of seemingly invincible Jewish power ... and cunning with the contempt normally reserved for weak and cowardly enemies. Like the Hamas propaganda for holy war, that of Hezbollah has relied on the endless vilification of Jews as 'enemies of mankind,' 'conspiratorial, obstinate, and conceited' adversaries full of 'satanic plans' to enslave the Arabs.  It fuses traditional Islamic anti-Judaism with Western conspiracy myths, Third Worldist anti-Zionism, and Iranian Shiite contempt for Jews as 'ritually impure' and corrupt infidels. Sheikh Fadlallah typically insists ... that Jews wish to undermine or obliterate Islam and Arab cultural identity in order to advance their economic and political domination.

    Various antisemitic statements have been attributed to Hezbollah officials

  • Defense Minister Ariel Sharon resigned following the findings of the Kahan Commission.