Eric Trump’s Post About Buying Other Countries on Amazon Goes Viral

What’s New

Eric Trump posted on social media Monday night, in an apparent joke about the United States being able to buy territories on Amazon, after his father, President-elect Donald Trump said he would take back the Panama Canal and buy Greenland.

The post on X, formerly Twitter, received over 7,000 replies, with some calling the mock-up of an online shopping cart “disrespectful” and “disturbing”, while others backed Trump’s caption of: “We are so back!!!”

Why It Matters

The post, while seemingly in jest, comes after the President-elect made more serious comments about owning and controlling Greenland, demanding the return of the Panama Canal, and that Canada could be the next U.S. state. The comments were met with backlash from international leaders and experts.

What To Know

Eric Trump’s post showed map outlines of the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada as items in an Amazon shopping cart, along with a mock-up of his father looking at his phone with the same Amazon app screen open. The caption read: “We are so back!!!”

The post, which has also been shared over 13,000 times, came after a similar post on December 21, responding to a post from the President-elect on Panama, in which Eric Trump said: “The grown-ups are back in charge”.

The President-elect’s first assertion that he could expand the U.S. came after announcing tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada over immigration and fentanyl flows, after which he said Canada could “become the 51^st State”.

He then suggested the U.S. should buy Greenland, an autonomous territory that has been part of Denmark for 600 years. Trump previously floated the idea during his first term in the White House, and Greenland’s leaders pushed back earlier this week saying: “We are not for sale”.

The President-elect also then threatened a demand for the return of the Panama Canal to U.S. control, if the Central American country failed to reduce the fees it charges American ships.

His son’s post was not received well by all, with some viewing it as aggressive toward other nations and hypocritical when Republicans have been vocal against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Others, however, did view the post as a tongue-in-cheek way of touting Trump’s return to the world stage.

Panama has been working with the U.S. in recent months to curb immigration through the Darien Gap – a notorious jungle route used by thousands of immigrants each year, headed for Mexico and the U.S.

What People Are Saying

Richard W. Painter, a former Chief White House ethics lawyer, on X: “Leaders of peaceful nations do not threaten their neighbors during Christmas, or any other time.”

PatriotTakes, an account speaking out on right-wing extremism, on X: “Eric Trump’s post. Threatening other countries is a joke to them.”

Lakshya Jain, an election polls and modeling expert at Split Ticket on X: “Never going to happen, so not worth discussing in much more detail, but [for what it’s worth] every single one of these seats would be safe Democratic.”

Republican Helen Qiu, running for New York City Council, on X: “Canada: 51st State (downside is we will be a permanent Democrat control government unless we make them a territory). Greenland: all good after we rename it Orangeland. Panama Canal: all good after we rename it United States Canal!”

What’s Next

The likelihood of any of these moves advancing appears unlikely, at least in the near future. The Panama Canal was under joint U.S. control until 1999, when it was handed over to the Panamanian government and the country’s President José Raúl Mulino said this week that it would stay that way.