Some 10 days ago I shared with a friend this thought.

"I think there is a dossier in US agencies that covers the possibility for European countries to actually become part of the US, in one way or another. Maybe not literally US States, but more than the fiction we have now. And I think the timespan is the end of this decade.

It's about cultural assimilation, that's been going on for the better part of a century now.

Germany has completely lost direction and purpose, while France, despite its ambitions and efforts, is hitting a wall.

Other Western countries are too old and too weak to do anything that matters. I believe they want someone to take care of them. Eastern countries finally would welcome it, mostly to avoid more problem with Russia.

Empires are built over time. When the Arabs came out of the deserts in the 600s, they did militarily conquer the better part of the 'world' in a few decades, but people did not become Muslim, even in close places like Egypt, for centuries.

We live in a moment of challenged hegemony, where America's rivals are trying to 'speak up.' But not only is the US still the global number one power, as they have their navy and their bases a few kilometers from China, Russia, and Iran, but also America's fundamentals are still stronger than those of their rivals.

I think we're going to see what, historically speaking, is going to be the peak of the Empire. More assimilation of countries that call themselves allies but are, in fact, clientes — in the Latin meaning — if not provinces.

And don't let me start with soft power and other parts of the world. What is current Argentina momentum if not a surrender to US hegemony? Or Evangelical growth against Catholic in Brasil?"

That was it, más o menos.

Now the new administration — not even seated yet — is already talking about taking control of Panama, Greenland, and Canada. This is going to pave the way for Europe in many ways.

Just to be clear: it's not the Trump administration itself that is creating this. It's America's momentum, which is deeply rooted in population and acts through the millions of people working in federal agencies. The administration is part of that, and if the interests match, the process is sped up, which is what we're seeing now. The first Trump administration was in a clash with other federal agencies, and it went as we know. Now they seem much more aligned.

America has decided, and there seems to be nothing that can stop it now.