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Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “president of peace,” on Saturday indicated that he wants American boots back on the ground in Afghanistan and also threatened Venezuela with severe consequences if the South American country does not take back prisoners and mental patients that he believes were sent to the US intentionally.

First, let’s look at the message that Trump, who has repeatedly floated his own name as recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, sent to Kabul.

“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Trump wrote in a social media post. 

It will be quite a challenge for the Taliban-led Afghan government to comply with this demand since the Soviet Union, which actually built Bagram back in the 1950s, no longer exists.

Of course, Afghanistan could hand the base over to Russia. It wouldn’t be the first time that Trump does Moscow’s bidding. Perhaps this is what he talked about with Vladimir Putin when the two of them rode in the presidential limousine in Alaska out of earshot of anybody else. 

However, let’s assume that Trump simply doesn’t know the history of the base and thinks that the US built it. In that case, his post can only be understood to mean that he wants American soldiers to return to Afghanistan, which seems to contradict some of his campaign promises. 

And, of course, if the Taliban government in Kabul does not comply, this sounds like an implicit threat of force, which seems unlikely to score him points with the Nobel Committee. 

Neither will attacking Venezuela. 

“We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan ‘Leadership’ has forced into the United States of America,” Trump wrote earlier. “Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these ‘Monsters.’ GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”

In case you are a bit puzzled by this post, it is important to keep in mind that it is unclear whether Trump understands the difference between someone seeking asylum, i.e., a refugee, and someone being locked up in an insane asylum (we wish we were kidding, but this is a genuine point of debate, and there is good reason to believe that the US president thinks that anybody applying for asylum is suffering from a mental illness). 

Again, this sounds like a threat of force, which would be consistent with the US moving assets into the region. 

It would not, however, be consistent with the actions of someone who wants the Nobel Peace Prize.

And Trump had been doing so well. 

As the president tells it, he already ended seven wars this year, including one between Aberbaijan, a non-existent country, and Albania, which is real but not at war. 

To be fair, it is widely believed that he meant Azerbaijan and Armenia, but, at this point, who can really tell what he is talking about?

In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.