UPSC Issue at a Glance | Trump’s 100 days in White House : Greenland, Gulf of Mexico, WHO Exit, and Reciprocal tariffs – All you need to know

Furthermore, various locations in the news hold significance for the UPSC CSE exam not only from the perspective of international relations but also from the lens of geography. UPSC has previously asked questions about different places. Thus, it is important to know about Greenland, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Panama Canal from a broader perspective, as knowledge about their geographical, economic, ecological, and strategic aspects can aid in preparing for topics related to the International relations and geography.)

If you missed the previous UPSC Issue at a Glance | From largest economies to understanding GDP: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains from the Indian Express, read it here.

What is the issue?

There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen – Vladimir Lenin

US President Donald Trump marked 100 days in office on April 29, and his first 100 days in the White House have felt just that, as President Donald Trump has taken bold and often controversial steps to reshape domestic and international policy, from slapping huge tariffs on imports to changing immigration laws, downsizing the federal government, and making various geopolitical claims.

Reflecting on how his second term feels very different from his first. In an interview with The Atlantic, as he completed 100 days in the White House, President Donald Trump said, “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys. And the second time, I run the country and the world.”

According to reports by Associated Press (AP), Trump’s fast-paced decisions have sparked lawsuits, market unrest, and global tensions. In this context, to understand the impact and to try and anticipate what the future holds, it’s important to look at the ideological shift in US administration under Trump through some of the major policy measures and other actions taken in Trump’s first 100 days in the White House. Additionally, let’s connect these developments to the static part of your syllabus, including geography and the economy.

Redrawing the map: Trump’s Geopolitical Aspirations

In a series of unconventional geopolitical moves, Donald Trump proposed annexing Greenland, asserted US ownership over the Panama Canal, and even floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state. Reuters reported that Trump may be reviving Cold War-style spheres of influence, where global power is carved up, not shared. Let’s understand Trump’s proposals and the controversies they sparked. It is also essential to examine them through the geographical and strategic significance of the regions involved.

📍Trump threatens to reclaim Panama Canal

In his earlier interviews, President Donald Trump has referred to the fees for transiting the Panama Canal as “ridiculous”. He even suggested that the U.S. should reclaim control of the canal and has not ruled out the possibility of using military force to achieve this.

The administrator of the Panama Canal said that the vital waterway will remain in Panamanian hands and open to commerce from all countries, rejecting claims by President Donald Trump that the United States should take it over.

About the Panama Canal

1. Notably, completed in 1914, the Panama Canal is one of the two most strategically important artificial waterways in the world, alongside the Suez Canal. For ships travelling between the east and west coasts of the United States, the canal reduces the journey by 8,000 nautical miles, avoiding the dangerous passage around Cape Horn.

Route of the Panama Canal. (Source: X/@thepanamaCanal)

2. The Port of Panama plays a vital role as an international hub for the global movement of goods. It connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama.

3. The United States constructed the canal in the early 20th century but handed it over to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter.

📍Trump renames the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ as the ‘Gulf of America’

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on February 9 to rename the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ as the ‘Gulf of America’ and declared February 9 as the ‘Gulf of America Day’.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Burgum’s wife Kathryn Burgum, aboard Air Force One where Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 Gulf of America Day. (AP Photo)

According to the executive order posted on the White House website, it defines the renamed ‘Gulf of America’ as “the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico.”

Earlier, in response to Trump’s statement about the “Gulf of America”, President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum had told reporters that North America should be renamed “Mexican America”. On 8th January, President Claudia Sheinbaum displayed a map from 1607 that included the Gulf of Mexico.”

Notably, John Nyberg, the director of the International Hydrographic Organisation, told The NYT there is “no formal international agreement or protocol in place for naming maritime areas”.

About the Gulf of Mexico

1. Bordered by Cuba, Mexico, and the United States, the Gulf of Mexico is the world’s largest gulf by surface area. It is also considered the ninth-largest body of water in the world.

Gulf of Mexico (Source: Google maps)

2. It connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida, which run between the Florida peninsula and the island of Cuba. It also connects to the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatán Channel, located between the Yucatán Peninsula and Cuba.

3. The Gulf of Mexico is recognised globally as a vast and productive waterbody with significant ecological and economic value. It is home to one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems, making it an important global reservoir of biodiversity. Its marine biodiversity supports vital ecosystems and a large sector of the region’s economy.

📍Trump’s aggressive bid to buy Greenland

Trump, who previously expressed interest in purchasing Greenland during his first term, reiterated his stance on March 26. “So, I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark,” he said.

Greenland was once a Danish colony and is now an autonomous province of Denmark. It had also emerged that Trump’s conversation with Denmark’s former Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on this issue earlier in January turned very cold. Frederiksen’s office had then said she reiterated to Trump that Greenland was not for sale and that it was up to the Greenlanders to decide their future.

Notably, Greenland, part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) through the membership of Denmark, has strategic significance for the US military and for its ballistic missile early-warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island.

About Greenland

1. Greenland is the largest island on Earth. It is situated in the Arctic and is the most sparsely populated territory in the world. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Arctic Ocean on the other. It is home to the northernmost point of land in the world—Kaffeklubben Island.

Location of Greenland, in the Kingdom of Denmark. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

2. Greenland is mineral-rich with large deposits of traditional resources such as gold, nickel, and cobalt. It also has some of the biggest reserves of rare earth minerals such as dysprosium, praseodymium, neodymium, and terbium. Of the 34 classified rare earth minerals, Greenland has about 23. It is these that have brought the island a lot of attention, along with several prospecting mining companies.

3. Greenland, though geographically part of North America, has been under Denmark’s control—located nearly 3,000 km (1,860 miles) away—for around 300 years. Initially governed as a colony, Greenland remained isolated and economically underdeveloped for much of its early history.

4. In 1953, it was integrated into the Kingdom of Denmark, granting Greenlanders Danish citizenship. A significant shift occurred in 1979, when a referendum on home rule allowed Greenland to take control of most internal policies, while Denmark retained authority over foreign affairs and defence.

Tougher immigration policies

The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals… I ask you to have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away – Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde

This was Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s direct appeal to Donald Trump during a prayer service in Washington, followed by a slew of executive orders that he signed on his first day back in the White House. Shutting the door on those seeking to enter the US and holding the spectre of ejection over those already living there, the Trump administration has pushed hard on immigration, deporting 139,000 people in its first three months.

📍Ended birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants

In yet another major action against immigration, Trump has also signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship — automatic citizenship of children born in the US to non-citizens — for children of undocumented immigrants, a move that is being challenged in federal court.

📍Push for self-deportation 

The self-deportation campaign has been vehemently pushed by the Trump administration, which means that a person who is currently residing in the United States can voluntarily move back to their home country without facing any legal action. This means that a person who currently has no legal ties to the United States can leave the country by themselves, without facing detention and/or any other legal action.

Under Trump, US withdraws from WHO

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on his very first day in office. The move does not come as a surprise, considering Trump had threatened to withdraw in his last term too and officially notified the UN General Secretary of the decision in 2020.

Reacting to Trump’s move, the WHO in a statement said, “The World Health Organisation regrets the announcement… WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans.”

About WHO

1. The WHO is a specialised agency of the United Nations working on global health. It works with countries to strengthen their primary health care; its guidelines help prepare government policies, and it helps organise programmes to tackle specific diseases.

2. Established on April 7, 1948, WHO presently has 194 member states. The Member States elect the Director-General, who leads the organisation in achieving its global health goals.

3. The organisation’s headquarters are based in Geneva, Switzerland, with six regional and 150 country offices across the world.

Atlantic rift widens

Mira Patel of The Indian Express writes, “At the Munich Security Conference, VP Vance declared, ‘America can do nothing to help you,” signalling a withdrawal from Washington’s traditional role as Europe’s security guarantor. NATO partners are scrambling. The EU has launched an €840 billion rearmament initiative. Poland and Lithuania are boosting defence budgets to 5 per cent of GDP. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen summed up the shift: “The West as we knew it no longer exists.”

About North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

1. NATO is a Western security alliance founded on April 4, 1949, with 12 founding members – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States – to ensure their collective security against the Soviet Union.

2. They signed the Washington Treaty, which gets its power from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, “which reaffirms the inherent right of independent states to individual or collective defence.”

3. NATO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The headquarters of the Allied Command Operations is near Mons, also in Belgium.

4. Currently, 32 countries are members of NATO. The two newest members are Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024). Notably, according to the official site of NATO, “Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty sets out how countries can join the Alliance. It states that membership is open to any “European State in a position to further the principles of this treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area””.

5. Members of NATO are committed to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. At the very heart of the alliance is the concept of “collective security” – an attack on any of the members is seen as an attack on all of them and demands collective action. This is laid out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding treaty of NATO.

Cutting domestic spending through DOGE 

Rajan Kumar explains- “The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created to cut wasteful government expenditure under the leadership of Trump’s closest electoral ally and billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk set up a target of $1 trillion in annual spending cuts, but he himself recently admitted that DOGE’s efforts will not save more than $150 billion in the present financial year.

DOGE terminated the contracts of thousands of federal employees, stopped emergency aid to Africa and the Middle East, and shut down one of the most important political instruments of American soft power — the US Agency for International Development (USAID).”

Trump’s Announcement of Reciprocal Tariffs to 90-day pause

One of Trump’s most important moves was reintroducing high tariffs. He celebrated April 2 as America’s “Liberation Day” by announcing “reciprocal tariffs” against all major trading partners aiming to reduce trade imbalances and boost American manufacturing.

Two sets of tariffs were announced. One, a base tariff of 10% against all countries, which represents a sharp increase from the pre-Trump 2.0 tariff rate of around 2.5%. Then there were country-specific tariffs, as shown in the table below.  These tariffs were determined by estimating how much each of these countries charges on US goods and then halving that amount to calculate the “USA discounted reciprocal tariffs”.

The table lists the main countries against which the US announced reciprocal tariffs, in descending order of tariffs imposed. ( As on April 2)

As shown in the table given above, India has been hit with a country-specific tariff rate of 26%. Donald Trump also shared a report of the US Trade Department that gave details of why each country was being tariffed.

However, on April 9, Trump paused reciprocal tariffs on 75 countries, including India, while imposing a steep 125 per cent tariff on China in response to its retaliatory measures. As the tariff war between China and America escalated, Beijing announced imposing 125 per cent tariffs on US goods from April 12, up from the 84 per cent previously announced. Later, the Trump administration hit China with a 145 percent tariff amid the ongoing trade wars.

Presently, the United States and China are all set to hold trade negotiations this week as they would try to de-escalate a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.

Here arise several pressing questions, the key ones being — what are the reasons behind Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs? As Anil Sasi of The Indian Express explains, “The objectives of these tariffs, as stated by Washington over a period of less than a month, too have been shifting: ranging from national security concerns (fentanyl and immigrant inflows) to the changed narrative of a need to balance trade deficits and putting a stop to America being shortchanged. Another reason being offered by the Trump administration is that the exercise will bring in the money for the proposed tax cut expected later this year.”

The implications of higher tariffs and the trade war initiated by Trump’s actions on the world economy and the Indian economy are only beginning to unfold.

India’s stance on Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs

Reiterating it’s stance of ‘studying’ silence over trade tariffs, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is “studying the implications” of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, as both nations work toward finalising a bilateral trade agreement. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that discussions between the Indian and US trade teams are ongoing.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on April 9 urged exporters not to panic and reassured them that India is working towards the “right mix and right balance” in its proposed trade agreement with the US.  Goyal also highlighted the opportunities associated with the tariffs.

“However, as far as India is concerned, there is potential for increased manufacturing and job creation, as India could attract major players in the global supply chain. The country has established itself as a trusted and reliable partner and a predictable, business-friendly destination,” he said.

Ravi Dutta Mishra of The Indian Express writes, “India’s strategy of initiating talks for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, along with its restraint in not retaliating against US tariffs, appears to have paid off, as US President Donald Trump on April 9 paused reciprocal tariffs on 75 countries, including India, while imposing a steep 125 per cent tariff on China in response to its retaliatory measures.

India and the US are currently negotiating a bilateral trade agreement aimed at more than doubling trade – from the current $191 billion to $500 billion by 2023. The first phase of the deal is expected to be concluded by autumn this year.”

Notably, recently, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that India is likely to become the first nation to finalise a bilateral trade agreement with the US.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump’s Meeting

In Trump’s first 100 days, one bright spot was Trump’s meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi. The two leaders discussed new initiatives and issues at length across various fields, from trade and defence to issues related to peace and conflict, marking the start of a new chapter in US-India relations. The major takeaways of the meeting were:

📍Mission 500:  Both countries set the new goal for bilateral trade — “Mission 500” — aiming to double bilateral trade between the two countries from the current $200 billion-level to $500 billion by 2030.

📍Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector BTA by fall of 2025. It demonstrates mutual commitment to address bilateral trade barriers.

📍10-year Defence Partnership: As part of 10-year Defence Partnership, India will get the Javelin anti-tank missile, Stryker combat vehicles, and more P-81 maritime patrol aircraft. Plus, the US will co-produce AI-enabled unmanned systems for underwater domain awareness. Not mentioned in the official statements, but featured in Trump’s remarks, is also the promise to consider selling India the F-35 combat aircraft.

📍RDP Agreement: The leaders also called for opening negotiations this year for a “Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement” to better align their procurement systems and enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services.

📍Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA): ASIA refers to India-US cooperation in the area of underwater domain awareness technologies. The US has offered a few co-production and co-development opportunities for UDA technologies, on commercial basis. India is the very first country with whom US defence industry has offered to work with on these sensitive technologies.

📍US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement: India and the US signal their commitment to “fully realise” the US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement. The bilateral “Agreement for Co-operation between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy” has been done because of the requirement for the US side under Section 123 of its Atomic Energy Act 1954. Hence it is also popularly known as the 123 Agreement.

📍US extradite 2008 Mumbai attacks suspect Tahawwur Rana: After Trump-Modi’s meeting US announced the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved. Recently, US extradited Rana to India.

📍Energy Collaboration: Re-committed to the US-India Energy Security Partnership, including in oil, gas, and civil nuclear energy. US support for India to join the International Energy Agency as a full member. 

Express view on 100 days of Trump – and how India has dealt with Washington

“A trade war, an upending of the US’s traditional relationships with its Western European allies, a polarising immigration policy, attacks on the established liberal order — Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have marked a disruption of the international systems, and presented a challenge to countries like India that must navigate the consequent uncertainties.

Delhi has had to navigate the Trump Administration’s policies on trade and immigration, and now, increasingly, global security. On each, it has managed to play a holding game and, in many cases, made progress…The Terms of Reference for a trade deal have been finalised, and it is in the interest of both countries to firm it up sooner rather than later. On the security front, Washington seems eager to support partners with whom it shares interests and who, in turn, are willing to work with it. On immigration, Delhi has accepted deportation of illegal immigrants while trying to protect the visa regimes that allow technology workers and other skilled labour to remain in America.

The challenge in the next 100 days will be to find an equilibrium that benefits both India and the US. There is some reason to be optimistic. Both Trump and Vance have reiterated the importance of the Quad and India’s role in it. The lack of equivocation vis-a-vis Pakistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam is also a welcome sign, as was the deportation earlier of Tahawwur Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian doctor involved in the Mumbai attacks.”

P.S: Dear Aspirants, 

Some issues are developing stories, and hence it is important to keep an eye on the everyday changes and continuities. The issue of the tariff war is one such example. Therefore, it is advised to keep track of this topic through our other initiatives, like Knowledge Nugget and UPSC Key. However, our attempt to provide conceptual clarity through this article on the issue so far will be beneficial for you at all stages of the exam.

Post Read Questions

(1) With reference to the Greenland, consider the following statements:

1. It was once a Danish colony and is now an autonomous province of Denmark.

2. It is located in the South Atlantic Ocean.

3. Its strategic importance rose during the Cold War, and the US had a large air base in Greenland.

4. It is rich in rare earth minerals.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

(2) Which of the countries shares a border with the Gulf of Mexico?

Mains

(1) ‘The expansion and strengthening of NATO and a stronger US-Europe strategic partnership works well for India.’ What is your opinion about this statement? Give reasons and examples to support your answer. (UPSC CSE 2023)

(2) “The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of a China, that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.” Explain. (UPSC CSE 2021)