Empire State of Mind

Trump's plans to invoke the Insurrection Act along the southern border, advanced planning to invade Panama, and 48 new Arctic icebreakers suggest Trump's expansionist plans are more than rhetoric.

President Donald Trump is systematically building the legal, military, and economic framework for a dramatic expansion of North American territorial control. New evidence confirms the White House is pursuing military options that just months ago seemed unthinkable.

There are growing indications of the militarization of the southern border and the Arctic seas, perhaps as a prelude to territorial expansion.

The Insurrection Act: Staging Ground for Southern Expansion?

Tump could invoke the Insurrection Act along the southern border as early as next month. On his first day in office Trump declared a border "emergency" and an assessment of using military forces for immigration enforcement - something never done before.

The 1807 Insurrection Act lets presidents deploy active-duty military domestically in specific circumstances, bypassing the Posse Comitatus Act. It's been used 40 times by presidents, but never for border control and not for an extended length of time.

By framing migration as a…