Donald Trump, re-elected as President of the United States, found no need to wait for his inauguration to show he’s the boss. And to make that clear, he has made a number of provocative statements even against his own allies.

To Canada’s prime minister, Trump suggested merging Canada with the United States, claiming that “many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection”.

According to him, the United States holds a rightful claim over the Panama Canal and he wants it to be “returned”. As for Greenland, he openly aims to annex the territory and is ready to pay for it. Yes, just like any arrogant billionaire, Trump believes anything can be bought and sold!

His sidekick, Musk—the world’s richest man and head of Tesla, SpaceX and the social network X—added fuel to the fire by openly insulting several European leaders and backing their political rivals, the far-right parties on the rise thanks to growing demagoguery.

With these two billionaires, no more hot air when it comes to international law or big talk over non-interference and the rights of nations! To them, only one principle matters: the survival of the fittest and overt imperialism.

Those who support the current world order relentlessly put the blame on Russia and China, accusing them of having imperialist ambitions, violating democracy and not respecting territorial borders. Yet here we have Trump, the leader of the so-called free world—the head of NATO, of which France is a member—embracing the most brazen expansionism of all!

Neither Trump nor Musk are madmen. They glorify the capitalist system which made them rich and turned them into billionaires. They praise a system built on the worldwide exploitation of people and nature. They aren’t crazy; they are sure of themselves because they know the power of their money.

We aren’t used to hearing such blunt language. Typically, political leaders like to paint themselves as heroes. Their speeches ooze hypocrisy and are filled with empty talk about the common good, prosperity, peace, and democracy. Even colonization was long presented as a commendable act of civilization!

From Algeria to Congo, from Laos to Vietnam, how many hundreds of thousands of civilians were massacred by French troops and subjected to forced labor by France, the so-called birthplace of human rights? Also in the name of freedom and democracy, the United States backed a number of military coups in Latin America, putting brutal dictatorships in place.

Trump is knowingly being provocative when he promises “hell in Gaza” if Israeli hostages are not freed. But hasn’t the “nice guy” Biden already turned Gaza into hell by condoning all of Israel’s crimes? In the name of international law, democracy and combating anti-Semitism, aren’t Biden, Macron and Scholz letting children die of starvation in Gaza because they don’t want to make their ally Netanyahu angry?

The imperialist order offers nothing but violence and exploitation for oppressed peoples, whether politicians’ speeches are filled with warmongering rhetoric or calls for peace, international agreements and fraternal relations. The brutality and hatred propagated by Trump and Musk are a perfect reflection of this system.

Yes, the demonic Trump-Musk pair is a reflection of the times we are living in: times of intense fighting for world supremacy, which is fueling the war in Ukraine and conflicts in Africa; times of cutthroat trade wars where even “allied” countries engage in deadly rivalries.

Capitalists who won’t have access to rare-earth metals needed to manufacture electronic devices or to digital data will be out of the game. If American imperialism deems it necessary to tighten its grip on Greenland, the Panama Canal and even send in military forces, Trump will do it, just as his predecessors have done so many times before. We are, indeed, sitting on top of a volcano.

Amid devastating wildfires, trade wars putting our jobs and wages into jeopardy, the threat of more financial crises, the ongoing wars and those that are looming, the world’s rulers are pushing us to the brink. But the oppressed around the world are bound to react. We must prepare for such reactions and give them a political prospect with the aim to overthrow the kings of the capitalist jungle by expropriating them and stopping them from doing harm.

Nathalie Arthaud