BERMUDA IN A FOX NEWS TRIANGLE?

By Staff Writer

What might have otherwise been dismissed as an innocuous joke remark by an American television host with a reputation for controversy is causing quite a stir in Bermuda.

In his Fox News TV programme, Jesse Watters alluded to a scenario in which the US would take over the British Overseas Territory on security grounds.

He made the remark during a discussion of the controversial idea by President Donald Trump, who has spoken of the United States taking control of Greenland for similar reasons.

“If we needed Bermuda to defend the Caribbean from the enemy, I think the British would let us borrow the island, it’s called sharing,” he said in one of two programmes where he threw out the scenario.

Watters also said: “The Europeans are lecturing us about colonies, but if we needed Bermuda, we’d take it.”

“We let the British have Bermuda because it’s cute, but if we needed Bermuda, we’d take it. And the British would let it happen,” the TV host stated.

While to date there has been no known official comment from the government or the political directorate in Bermuda, there has been a flurry of reaction on local social media, ranging from disbelief to being dismissive. Many seem bemused by the issue which has also been reported on by the territory’s mainstream media.

It’s not clear why Watters chose Bermuda as a reference point. The British island lies in the North Atlantic off the eastern seaboard of the United States.

What appears to be driving the interest in his remarks seems to be concern about the unpredictable nature - and execution - of recent US foreign policy, including in the region, under the Trump administration.

There are no indications of any official US interest in Bermuda beyond business investments in the territory’s successful offshore financial sector, real estate and tourism industry.

However, the comment “if we needed Bermuda, we’d take it” has gained prominence in the current geo-political climate, in which President Trump is emphasising the Western Hemisphere - including the Atlantic and Caribbean basin - as a central focus of new US foreign policy priorities.

Recent actions, policies and comments by the president and others in his administration have underlined the administration’s intensified interest in the area.

“What Europe doesn’t understand is that Greenland is an island in North America,” Watters said, adding, “And we have dominion over the entire Western Hemisphere.

Also driving the debate emanating from the Fox News host’s remarks are links between that network and the Trump administration. Several officials in the government have spent time on the network as hosts advocating policies that they are now implementing.