Thursday, January 15, 2026

Trump Focuses on Greenland

Yesterday, Donald Trump again said that the U.S. must own Greenland for national security reasons. The White House also posted this cartoon on eX-Twitter:

Posted by A_Friend at 09:49 AM | 4 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

snip ...

Who is the intended audience? Americans? Greenlanders? Danes? If Greenlanders, it will likely backfire. They don't want to join America in any way, shape or form. In a poll from a year ago, 85% of Greenlanders said they do not want to become a part of the U.S., with only 6% saying they WOULD like that to happen. It is likely even worse now that Donald Trump is talking about annexing the island by military force. On Tuesday, Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said that if Greenland has to choose between America and Denmark, it will choose Denmark.

What about Denmark? Yesterday, the Danish foreign minister, Lars Rasmussen. and Greenland's foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, had a meeting with J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Afterwards, Rasmussen and Motzfeldt held a press conference outside the Danish embassy in D.C. Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said the parties had a fundamental disagreement over the future of Greenland. In easy-to-understand terms, Trump wants to buy Greenland but Denmark doesn't want to sell it. At the presser, Rasmussen added: "We didn't manage to change the American position. It's clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom."

Yesterday, Denmark began moving defense forces to Greenland and said other European NATO members would soon do so as well. The ministry said the move was to train the troops in Arctic fighting, but didn't specify who the potential enemy might be. There is no way the European troops could stave off an American attack, but having them there trying to at least slow an American advance would be a major PR hit to Trump. If American troops have to force their way in, against even nominal resistance, it would be impossible for Trump to say to the American people: "The Greenlanders welcomed us with open arms. It is also worth noting that, even if you have a force of superior size, it can be very, very hard to gain control of an enormous, largely empty, very cold piece of land. Ask Napoleon, if you have any questions.

On the positive side, the parties agreed to set up a working group to address security issues and whether they could be addressed without changing Greenland's ownership. It is possible they will come up with something, but that is unlikely to satisfy Trump. At heart, he is a real estate developer, and he likes to buy ground and develop it. He sees Greenland as a large chunk of undeveloped land he could buy and develop in case his deal to buy Gaza doesn't work out. The two have different problems. Greenland is cold and has no people. Gaza is hot and has a lot of people. However they are similar in that neither of the current owners are interested in selling the place to him. How long will it be before he gets the idea of moving all the people in Gaza to Greenland, so he can build hotels and condos in Gaza? That would violate international law, of course, but so what?

#1 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-15 09:50 AM

Germany and France (French Foreign Legion?) are sending troops to defend Greenland.

There will be blood. In Greenland, and here.

#2 | Posted by Zed at 2026-01-15 09:51 AM

snip ...

What about Congress? Is it enthusiastic about annexing Greenland? Well, a bipartisan team of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has written a bill that would ban using U.S. funds to annex the territory of a NATO member state without the consent of that member. It is too soon to see how much support it has, but probably all Democrats will support it and likely some Republicans as well. Murkowski said "The mere notion that America would use our vast resources against our allies is deeply troubling and must be wholly rejected by Congress in statute."

What about the American people? Quinnipiac University ran a poll on the subject. It turns out Project Greenland is just as unpopular with Americans as it is with Greenlanders, with 86% of Americans opposed to taking the island by force and only 9% approving of the idea. When was the last time you saw 86% of Americans agreeing on anything? We bet if QU asked: "Do you approve of the American flag" they wouldn't get 86% approval.

So, Greenlanders don't like the idea of being annexed, Denmark doesn't like it, members of Congress don't like it, and the American people don't like it. We are pretty sure no other country approves So who does? Donald Trump. He is the only one, against essentially the entire world. Will he do it? At this point it is unclear, but the QU poll might actually deter Trump since doing something 86% of Americans don't want is not going to help the Republicans in November.

Ironically, Trump's approach is making it even less likely that he will be able to take Greenland without military force, which would destroy NATO and put the entire E.U. against him.

While Putin laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Without lifting a finger (or losing a single Russian soldier), Pedodent Vladimir Netanyahu Trumpf will deliver Europe on a silver platter to Putin.

#3 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-15 09:55 AM

"which would destroy NATO and put the entire E.U. against him."

It will be difficult for the rest of the world to put a trade embargo on the United States. There are certain things that just wouldn't work for. But, there are plenty of other areas where it would. We're already seeing that with tariffs.

The fundamental category error Trump and his expansionist fastest Republicans is making here is about power.
The United States is not the most powerful country in the world because of our military.
The United States is the most powerful country in the world because of our economy.
And, because of the intellectual and cultural and trans-national freedom that the United States affords to its innovators in the high-tech economy. I am talking about people like Elon Musk, who say what you want about his politics, remains a "Job Creator" in the Untied States.

At best, Trump can lower the standard of living of the United States, while lowering the standard of living of the Rest Of The World even more. So comparatively, we win, because our losses weren't as bad.

Much like Putin has been doing for Russia, through Foundations of Geopolitics.

#4 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-15 10:25 AM

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