Enlarging the U.S.

as big as the U.S.A. is, apparently it is not big enough, and for many different reasons It has been expanded by occupying land outside of its boundaries. The last state to join the union was Alaska in 1959. All that is left to join are islands like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands both in the Caribbean Sea, both still territories but not states. Actually, that is not true. The U.S.Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917 and given to the department of the interior to administer. These islands were both acquired for military reasons to defend U.S. interests in the Caribbean. Recently there has been talk about buying Greenland and making it a state. Sounds crazy? Actually it is not a new idea. Since the 19th century, the United States has considered, and made, several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark, as it did with the Danish West Indies in 1917.(U.S. Virgin Islands). There were notable internal discussions within the U.S. federal government about acquiring Greenland in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019 and 2025, and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by President Donald Trump, among others. After World War II, the United States secretly offered to buy Greenland; there was public discussion about purchasing the island during Trump's first term in 2019 and again after Trump's 2024 reelection, as part of his American expansionism policy. That discussion is currently ongoing right now and is playing out in the news for all to see.

US has long maintained a security interest in Greenland. After Nazi Germany occupied mainland Denmark during World War Two, the US invaded Greenland, establishing military and radio stations across the territory.

After the war, US forces remained in Greenland. Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, has been operated by the US ever since.

In 1951, a defence agreement with Denmark granted the US a significant role in the defence of the territory, including the right to build and maintain military bases.

"If Russia were to send missiles towards the US, the shortest route for nuclear weapons would be via the North Pole and Greenland," .

The mining potential across Greenland's vast landmass, especially the rare earth minerals in the south, uranium and iron, is also of importance to the U.S.

Does the US want full control of Greenland? Control of Greenland was essential "for national security and international security." Stated President Trump in a recent speech to Congress. A series of US presidents have tried to gain control of Greenland for more than a century.

"The US has tried a few times to push the Danes out of Greenland and take it over as part of the US, or at least to have full security tutelage of Greenland," said Lukas Wahden, the author of 66° North, a newsletter on Arctic security.

In 1867, after buying Alaska from Russia, US Secretary of State William H Seward led negotiations to buy Greenland from Denmark, but failed to reach any agreement.

In 1946, the US offered to pay $100m (equivalent to $1.2bn in todays money, for the territory, judging that it was vital for national security, but the Danish government refused.

Trump also tried to buy Greenland during his first presidential term.

Does President Trump need Congress' support?

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives a president the power to make treaties "with the Advice and Consent of the Senate" and "provided two thirds of the Senators present concur."

But in the decades after World War II, according to the Senate, presidents have entered the U.S. into a growing number of international agreements without the Senate's approval. So he might be able to do it in his 2nd term.

And lastly, there is a small island in the Rio Grande, which is the international border between Mexico and the U.S. in Texas, called Fronton Island (also known as Cartel Island) which was a lawless piece of territory occupied by neither of the 2 countries, instead occupied by Mexican drug cartels as a launching area for drug and arms smuggling.

The Texas National Guard and its law enforcement partners were no strangers to the area near the small community of Fronton, and its formerly lawless island in the Rio Grande. The island has long been known as an area for cartel smuggling operations involving narcotics, weapons, money and high-value individuals. The densely-wooded area provided concealment for trans-national criminal activity, and has been a problem for decades according to law enforcement familiar with the area.

Operation Lone Star Guardsmen began securing the island and denying access to cartels in early October. Security operations cleared the area of criminals to protect Guardsmen there. Extensive brush clearing and road construction was completed by Guard engineers followed by installing triple-strand concertina wire along the shore.

Although illicit narcotics and weapons smuggling had been the primary use of the area in recent years, cartel organizations had recently begun escorting large groups of illegal immigrants in the Fronton area, using the island to enter the U.S. without detection. The clearing project and concertina-wire obstacles help prevent these large groups from crossing illegally, according to OLS officials.

Fronton Island lies between two channels of the Rio Grande immediately downstream of Fronton, Texas, across from Los Guerra in Miguel Alemán Municipality, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located about 12 miles (19 km) downstream of the Falcon Dam and about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Roma, Texas. It measures approximately 160 to 170 acres (65 to 69 ha) in area.

A smaller Fronton Island (Spanish: isla Frontón) is located just upstream on the Mexican side of the border in Miguel Alemán Municipality. The American island is sometimes called Isla de San Francisco, which can also refer to a larger island on the Mexican side downstream of Ciudad Miguel Alemán.

History

Fronton Island was formed between 1852 and 1926 when the Rio Grande cut a new channel to the south, which became the main channel by 1955.

As of 1959, Fronton Island was acknowledged as Mexican territory by both the Mexico and United States sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), as the channel that formed the island had cut into Mexican territory to the south. In 1976, the IBWC delineated the international border to the south under the terms of the Boundary Treaty of 1970, placing the island under American jurisdiction.

In the 1980s, the island was used by Mexican ranchers for grazing but was claimed by the Cisneros Ranch of Texas. In 1983, armed fugitives from the Miguel Alemán Municipal Jail hid on the island before their capture, taking advantage of its dense foliage.

2023 Texas takeover

During and before 2023, Fronton Island became a hotspot of human trafficking and drug smuggling. On September 7, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham determined that the land was state property and granted the Texas Ranger Division permission to patrol the island as part of Operation Lone Star. In an interview with Fox News, Commissioner Buckingham characterized this declaration as an addition to the state's land area. Under the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Ranger Division and Texas Army National Guard occupied Fronton Island on October 2, 2023, and began clearing its vegetation ahead of patrols.

so there you have it. The U.S. is expanding or attempting to expand beyond its current borders, and that isn’t even with its President’s idea to make Canada the 51st state. Hold on for a wild ride.