The Economist cover design: Trump’s presidency is imperialistic.
The Economist magazine published its latest issue with a picture of Donald Trump, the new US president, and the title “The 1897 Plan: The Imperialist Presidency.”
In its editorial, the Economist also compared Trump’s declared policies, speeches, and actions to William McKinley, the 25th US president, who began his presidency in 1897 and was assassinated in 1901.
According to the Economist, McKinley had imperialist and pacifist ideas and added “Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico” to the US territory. Like Trump, McKinley was fond of imposing tariffs on imported goods, and was supported by business tycoons of the time such as “C.P. Morgan” and “John D. Rockefeller.”
The Economist editorialist goes on to point to Trump’s inauguration speech, in which he reiterated the claim to the Panama Canal, and writes: “Since the 19th century, the idea that borders should always be expanded by taking over other countries’ territory has been around. While this may have been a fad, no president in the last century has said such things. The only one who has said such things like Trump was William McKinney.
In his inauguration speech, Trump said about the Panama Canal that “we are taking it back. America must be “a growing nation”; a country that “increases our wealth and expands our territorial reach.”