Ocasio-Cortez Issues Stark Warning About Trump's Global Ambitions at Security Conference
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a sobering assessment of former President Donald Trump's apparent objectives regarding the international rules-based order during a panel discussion at the prestigious Munich Security Conference on Friday. The New York Democrat argued that Trump's ultimate goal involves dismantling established global systems to create an era where authoritarian leaders can claim geographic domains, with Trump himself commanding the Western Hemisphere.
Protecting Democracies in a Volatile Era
Ocasio-Cortez began her remarks by emphasizing the urgent need to protect democratic institutions worldwide amid what she described as a volatile "new era" defined by Trump's controversial foreign and domestic policy actions. "I think what we are seeking is a return to a rules-based order that eliminates the hypocrisies around when, too often in the West, we look the other way for inconvenient populations to act out these paradoxes," the progressive congresswoman stated.
She provided specific examples of these hypocrisies, noting: "Whether it is kidnapping a foreign head of state, whether it is threatening our allies to colonize Greenland, whether it is looking the other way in a genocide, hypocrisies are vulnerabilities and they threaten democracies globally."
Pointed Exchange About Democratic Priorities
The most pointed moment occurred when moderator Katrin Bennhold, a journalist with The New York Times, asked which specific policies or institutions a future Democratic administration would prioritize preserving. The question referenced key international agreements and organizations including NATO, the Paris Climate Accords, and the Iran nuclear deal.
Ocasio-Cortez responded by arguing that the United States must first revisit its commitments to foreign assistance through agencies like USAID and renew political agreements with allies that the Trump administration abandoned. She then escalated her critique, stating: "They are looking to withdraw the United States from the entire world so that we can turn into an age of authoritarianism, of authoritarians, that can carve out the world where Donald Trump can command the Western Hemisphere and Latin America."
Trump's Hemisphere as "Personal Sandbox"
The congresswoman added that Trump views the entire Western Hemisphere as "his personal sandbox" and suggested he wouldn't intervene if leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin began military aggression against American allies in Europe. She reiterated that Trump's objective appears to be creating conditions where "authoritarians to have their own geographic domains."
Ocasio-Cortez referenced Trump's own statements to The New York Times, where he acknowledged only "one thing" limiting his pursuit of land and resources: "My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me." Trump added at the time, "I don't need international law. I'm not looking to hurt people."
Returning to Institutional Priorities
As she concluded her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez returned to Bennhold's original question about which institutions a Democratic administration might save, sparking renewed speculation about her potential presidential ambitions for 2028. She identified the Trans-Pacific Partnership and global alliances as critical tools against authoritarian consolidation of power.
"And it actually is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it is our global alliances that can be a hard stop against authoritarian consolidation of power, particularly in the installation of regional puppet governments," Ocasio-Cortez told the moderator, framing international cooperation as essential democratic defense mechanisms.
