Trump's first year in office proves that nothing is ever enough for him

Donald Trump’s latest attempt to insert himself into world affairs wasn’t a diplomatic initiative or a peace process. It was a lust to take over Greenland, a sovereign territory, as though it were a distressed hotel property in Saudi Arabia he could slap his name on and call it a win.

Trump even sent a message to Norway’s leadership complaining that since he had not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he no longer prioritizes peace (never mind the fact Norway's government doesn't control who gets the prizes). That Nobel, like everything else, exemplifies Trump’s lust for more, more, and more.

For the grabby, greedy, and gluttonous Donald Trump, his first year in office validated that for him, one is never enough. Not one dollar. Not one compliment. Not one building. And now, apparently, not one country.

Trump has begun speaking about the world the way he has always spoken about everything else in his life: as something to be taken, branded, consumed, and dominated. Greenland is not an ally or a people or a place with history and sovereignty. It is a gold trophy he wants to hang on the wall of the Oval Office.

And Greenland is only the latest example of his gluttony.

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Trump wobbles through life like a spoiled child on Christmas morning, staring at a tree full of presents and raging that his name isn’t written on every single box. So he does what he has always done. He rips off the tags, scrawls his name in black Sharpie, and declares that everything in sight belongs to him.

This is not new behavior. It is a pattern so consistent it borders on pathology.

Trump has never wanted success. Instead, he wants excess. He does not want admiration. He wants flattery, doubled and amplified. He does not want power. Instead, he wants domination. The concept of “enough” has never existed in his vocabulary, unless, of course, he has decided he’s had enough of you. In that case, there will never be enough hours in the day for him to publicly humiliate and attack you online.

There is no sense that boundaries exist for a reason. Everything is there to be consumed, devoured, and destroyed. Decorum collapses. Health becomes irrelevant. Consequences are somebody else’s problem.

Related: What can we expect in American politics in 2026?

Money follows that logic. The New York Times detailed how Trump’s personal wealth has ballooned during his return to office, fueled by crypto schemes and speculative ventures that thrive precisely because he is president.

The Times piece cites such things as digital coins branded with his name, financial platforms tied to his family, and investors seeking proximity to power have turned public office into a private profit engine. It is not enough for Trump to wield authority; he must monetize it. Money, like everything else in his life, is not a means or a responsibility but a scoreboard, and the numbers must always go up, even if it means blurring the line between governance and graft.

Trump does not treat wealth as something earned. He hoards it, as easily as he can, the way compulsive collectors hoard junk, stacking numbers higher and higher, regardless of whether there is anything of value underneath. Bankruptcy was never failure in Trump’s mind. It was simply another trick, another reset button, another way to take more while paying less.

Praise, however, may be his most addictive substance.

One compliment is never sufficient. One standing ovation never lasts. One rally cheer fades too quickly. Trump must be told, constantly, loudly, and by everyone around him, that he is the greatest, the smartest, the strongest, the most historic figure to ever live. Any criticism becomes betrayal. Any disagreement is treason.

Try sitting through a half-day Cabinet meeting listening to his sycophants, a.k.a. his Cabinet, go on and on and on about the great Donald Trump. While he sleeps.

This insatiable hunger for validation helps explain Trump’s fixation on awards and honors. Even when it comes to symbolic recognition, he cannot tolerate limits. He has openly obsessed over the Nobel Peace Prize for years, repeatedly expressing resentment that President Barack Obama received one. He has accepted dubious accolades, including a so-called peace prize from FIFA, with the same self-regard as if history itself had finally gotten around to acknowledging his greatness.

Branding ties it all together. Buildings, steaks, casinos, universities, flags, Bibles, and now, apparently, countries. Trump’s name is the product. If it isn’t stamped on something, he doesn’t value it. Ownership is about visibility. Donald Trump with top billing, his name up in lights. About conquest. About erasing what was there before and replacing it with himself.

Now that grotesque instinct has fully metastasized on to the world stage, and it will only grow larger during his second term.

Trump increasingly treats the globe like a Monopoly board, scanning for properties he believes he can seize, intimidate, or strong-arm into submission. Countries become “assets.” Sovereignty is bullshit. History, culture, and human consequence are dismissed.

And yet Trump’s story always ends the same way.

His businesses crumble. His alliances fracture. His boasts curdle into embarrassment. The failure is inevitable because excess is not a foundation. In the past, Trump’s implosions ended in courtrooms, bankruptcies, lawsuits, and wounded egos.

This time, the stakes are far higher.

When a man who cannot accept limits begins treating nations as conquests, the consequences do not stop at his own humiliation. They ripple outward, destabilizing alliances, undermining diplomacy, and threatening global order itself.

Trump’s endless hunger has always been his most obvious flaw. It is now his most dangerous one. One is never enough for him. Not land. Not power. Not praise. Not peace prizes. Not Big Macs.

The world should be deeply alarmed by what happens when a man who cannot stop taking decides that even countries are not enough. 2026 will be the year Trump’s excesses endanger all of us.