Although Donald Trump has never been modest about his abilities or reluctant to exercise personal power, during his second term in office he has shown clear signs of megalomania.
One sign, of course, is his blatant demand for the territory of other nations. Since January 2025 alone, he has suggested annexing or seizing control of Greenland, Canada, Mexico, the Panama Canal, Gaza, Venezuela and Cuba. In addition, he has proclaimed the “Donroe Doctrine,” declaring that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
Other actions, too, have underscored Trump’s decision to “go it alone” in world affairs. Like the foremost military conquerors of the past, Trump has been busy building up his nation’s armed forces and their weaponry. The United States is already the world’s biggest military spender, with about three times the military spending of the number two nation (China).
Nevertheless, this April, Trump proposed adoption of a record $1.5 trillion U.S. military budget, with the largest annual increase ever in Pentagon funding: 42%. This dramatic increase does not include an expected supplemental budget for the Iran war, which could cost an additional $200 billion.
Trump’s 2027 fiscal year military budget calls for $98 billion in nuclear weapons spending, most of it to build a new generation of U.S. nuclear weapons. Furthermore, like past U.S. presidents, Trump has assumed the power to launch a nuclear war totally on his own. And he has publicly and repeatedly threatened to do so.
Although it’s tempting to regard this behavior as reflecting an overheated nationalism, the remarkable degree to which Trump regards himself as the savior of the world suggests a more personal lust for supreme power.
This descent into megalomania is deeply disturbing, for the dangers to the world, and even to human survival, are sharply enhanced by one-man rule, and even by one-nation rule.
How long will it take to recognize that international security requires the sharing of power by all people and nations in the human community?
Dr. Lawrence Wittner is professor of history emeritus at SUNY/Albany and the author of ‘Confronting the Bomb.’
