Eric Ham: Canada beware, Trump’s Venezuela invasion is a clear warning shot

CTV U.S. political analyst Eric Ham weighs in on the Trump administration’s plan for Venezuela, and his desire to take over Greenland and Canada.

Eric Ham is based in Washington, D.C. and is a political analyst for CTV News. He’s a bestselling author and former congressional staffer in the U.S. Congress and writes for CTVNews.ca.

WASHINGTON - A surprise pre-dawn raid on a sovereign country was the opening salvo by an American strongman hellbent on bringing the world’s most resource-rich nations under U.S. control.

In 2025, Donald Trump tested the reach of his authority, faced down the system of checks and balances and dared the world to push back. Meeting no resistance, the twice-impeached commander-in-chief orchestrated his fait accompli, stealing the world’s largest oil reserves with nary an outcry from the international community.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s tinpot dictator that oversaw the invaluable buildup of black gold, is now locked away in an American jail. A violent and stark warning to anyone that stands in the way of a maniacal leader all too willing to use the mightiest military force as his personal marauding gang to take what he wants.

As the beginning of 2026 makes clear, nothing is safe. Sovereignty rests with the powerful. Resistance is useless, especially those in close proximity to America. Only five days into the new year and in blitzkrieg fashion, President Trump has altered the world order.

Abundant energy reserves are firmly in his grip, giving him even more influence and control to shape markets and economies. China could be cut out; Canada’s leverage hangs in the balance; and commodities are in for a bumpy ride.

In fact, China is still owed more than US$60 billion in loan repayments which Caracas was paying off to the tune of roughly 746,000 barrels per day, out of total exports of over 900,000 -- a debt likely to be cancelled by the Trump administration.

Canada’s energy advantage threatened

Moreover, Canadian oil refineries filled the gap due to shrinking oil production from the Latin American nation years ago. However, now that the Caracas spigot is firmly in the hands of Trump, Canada’s crude, which in many ways is similar to Venezuela’s, could be replaced. This would leave the Great White North’s energy coffers with a gaping hole. Still, in the aftermath of such a brazen coup of a nation’s vast natural resources, Trump is not stopping there.

Making clear to other nations a heavy price will be paid if one dares to stand in his way, only a day after the invasion of Venezuela, he reiterated his position on Greenland, making clear the Arctic gateway’s sovereignty too is in doubt. He stated: “We need Greenland. … It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he said. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Not stopping there, he responded to criticism levied by the leaders of Mexico and Colombia, warning that their respective countries could be next, saying, “Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

When pressed by a reporter whether those comments meant there could be an “operation” in Colombia in the future, Trump responded: “Sounds good to me.” Turning his attention to his southern neighbour, he said: “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something,” referring to drugs.

Doubling down on his threats, Trump lashed out at Maduro’s replacement, Delcy Rodriguez, making clear that if his intended objectives are not carried out, her fate, too, could be similar to the recently deposed leader’s, saying that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

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Buoyed by his latest power grab and not giving an inch, Trump will not stand for Rodríguez’s defiant rejection of the armed U.S. intervention that resulted in Maduro’s capture. Venezuela is the blueprint for President Trump’s grand and ambitious plan to supplant China and lead the world with control of much of the world’s natural resources.

Sovereignty means nothing anymore

The White House has made no secret of its intentions to take Greenland by force and now with an overwhelming abundance of crude at its disposal, the administration’s grand design of “economic force” by which to make Ottawa subservient to U.S. leadership is coming into clear focus. The targets just became more enlarged.

Venezuela fell without a fight, making a pugilistic president more, not less, emboldened. Charters and treaties (Greenland) mean nothing to a man guided by lawlessness and forged through corruption. Equally meaningless are land borders or even proximity (Canada). Once material advantages that benefited national and regional economies are now seen as assets to be devoured by the mightiest.

Mark Carney knows this all too well. The prime minister is acutely aware that congeniality and conviviality are no match for ego, greed, and dominance. For once the threat materializes, much like Maduro, no world leader, no economic engine, no military apparatus will rear its head to stand with Canadians or Greenlanders to ward off the Trump onslaught.

In North America, much like the world, America is still the dominant player, and no global or regional power can withstand an American imperialist willing to use all the tools of hard power in a vast and potent arsenal to force capitulation.

Canada, like Greenland, is just too attractive in the eyes of an aging, imbecilic ruler ignorant to reality and even less moored by norms and standards. The world is on notice and those in America’s own backyard, especially those sharing a land border, should not only be wary, but beware.