Senate Republican: Greenland Invasion Would be 'weapons-grade stupid'

At this point, I am wondering...

Is this Greenland claim by Pres Trump merely a distraction away from his (and Sec Rubio's) end-goal of regime-change in Cuba?

Asked differently, Denmark and Greenland have been quite friendly allies towards the US in the past. So, why not just talk with them about a larger US military presence in Greenland, if that is Pres trump's goal?

Miller: Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily' over Greenland
thehill.com

... White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller doubled down on President Trump's renewed threats to make Greenland a U.S. territory, but he dismissed the prospect that a military confrontation would be necessary to achieve that goal.

In an interview on CNN's "The Lead," the top White House adviser reaffirmed the "formal position of the U.S. government" that "Greenland should be part of the United States" and brushed off questions about the potential for military actions against the semiautonomous Danish territory.

"The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking, of a military operation," Miller told CNN's Jake Tapper, who asked repeatedly if Miller would rule out military action against Greenland.

"Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland," Miller added. ...

#3 | Posted by LampLighter

We have a small presence there. It's all about the vast, untapped resources under the soil in Greenland. And man, is it massive!

Greenland's weather means a very, very short season in which to mine anything. Winds, unstable loose rock on hills and mountains, ice, subzero temps, etc etc.

Maybe Trump's just looking at a map, dazzled at how it's practically a big as the US and Canada combined

@#4

I heard one report that Pres Trump is concerned about the Chinese and Russian submarines that have been seem around Greenland, and that is a reason why he wants to invade and take over Greenland.

Add that to the EU seeming to be saying that if the US invades Greenland, it would be the end of NATO.

OK, taking a step back here ...

If you were Pres Putin, and you wanted to weaken/destroy NATO, what would you do now?

If it were me, I'd place even more submarines in the waters around Greenland to provoke Pres Trump even more to invade Greenland and destroy NATO.

Maybe Trump's just looking at a map, dazzled at how it's practically a big as the US and Canada combined>/i>

Of course he is.

Marco Rubio looks haunted in his pictures with Trump.

"Miller: Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily' over Greenland"

We'll be greeted as liberators.

"Miller: Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily' over Greenland"

It's in the nature of Neocons, a part of their very core, to insist that nothing bad ever happens to anyone who starts a war.

Related to this: I thought that MAGA hated Neocons?

Hell, they've called me a Neocon for suggesting that the Ukrainians should resist Russia. I think I was supposed to feel bad.

No more foreign wars? Didn't Trump/MAGA run on that? Promise and pinky-swear?

Jesus. I'm still waiting for you people to take responsibility for Iraq.

War and the spoils of war are like heroin to you people.

Again, you can see why Obama got the Nobel prize.

With all this trumpism, if 48 plays it humble one result. Comes in full of bluster, another result.

I heard one report that Pres Trump is concerned about the Chinese and Russian submarines that have been seem around Greenland, and that is a reason why he wants to invade and take over Greenland.

No its because of .... Greenland - As viewed from a proper map (Mercator map projection is ----).

Why Greenland? Well because Moscow bases almost all of their strategic military assets on the Kola Peninsula next to Finland. This is where the Russian ICBM silos, submarine bases, and their strategic bombers are.

If you look at the flight path (ballistic or powered) from Kola to anywhere on the lower 48, then everything goes over Greenland.

Greenland is the theatre where any strategic exchange between Washington and Moscow is contested.

If you want to intercept a ballistic missile, the best point to do so is at the apogee, at the top of the flight path. The shortest route for an interceptor to get to an apogee is from directly below the apogee.

That's where Greenland is.

So, without stating what should happen here, this is **why** the Trump administration says they **need** Greenland for national security.

The other thing that is happening is that the Northern Passage through the Arctic is opening up, and soon there will be Chinese cargo ships sailing through the Arctic to Rotterdam. It's faster than the Suez and the ships aren't limited to Suezmax size so China and EU trade is going to accelerate a lot.

This means Chinese submarines will also be venturing under the Arctic into the Northern Atlantic, IF THEY AREN'T ALREADY DOING SO.

Hence, the North East coast of Greenland serves not 1 but 2 critical strategic security objectives of US national security.

If this wasn't clear to you, please understand that the Mercator global map projection is for children and journalists only. It is not a useful guide to where any countries or territories actually are in the real world that we live in.

No self respecting adult should be using Mercator for their worldview. Anyone saying "there must be some other secret reason for Trump being interested in Greenland" is a certified ignoramus.
x.com

The US has a base in Greenland, but I suspect intelligent defenders are thinking of building more, and to be used to stage attacks as well. Imagine the advantage of having missiles in Greenland vs South Dakota.

#12 After reading all of that while drunk, I can only add that Trump is an orange pedophile adjudicated rapist Russian asset that took horse-paste for COVID-19. Your post convinced me.

... French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the United States was "breaking free from international rules" and "gradually turning away" from some of its allies in a traditional New Year address designed to spell out France's foreign policy priorities for the 12 months ahead.

"Multilateral institutions are functioning less and less effectively," Macron said in his annual speech to French ambassadors gathered at the lyse Palace in Paris. "We are living in a world of great powers with a real temptation to divide up the world," he added.

Macron's speech comes as European powers scramble to come up with a coordinated response to Washington's increasingly assertive foreign policy in the Western hemisphere, including its capture of Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro and President Donald Trump's designs on Greenland. ...

Also related ...

German president says US is destroying world order
www.reuters.com

... German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has strongly criticised the U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and urged the world not to let the world order disintegrate into a "den of robbers" where the unscrupulous take what they want. ...

"Senate Republican: Greenland Invasion Would be 'weapons-grade stupid'"

Trump wants Greenland because he wants to be in the elite club of Presidents who expanded US territory. Only 4 Presisents are in that club: Jefferson (Louisiana Purchase), Polk (Mexican Session + Pacific NW treaty), Andrew Johnson (Alaska) and McKinley (Hawaii).

Trump knows that Denmark will let the US do any "strategic" thing in Greenland that he wants. But Trump wants to join the above club so he can be a "great President".

And on January 21 2029, Greenland should immediately be returned to Denmark.

This turd thinks what he does will be permanent. It ain't

And on January 21 2029, Greenland should immediately be returned to Denmark.

#18 | Posted by truthhurts

With reparations.

We all know that Donald will kill a few Greenlanders while he's there.

Maybe Trump's just looking at a map, dazzled at how it's practically a big as the US and Canada combined

Probably, but he's looking at the wrong maps. Australia is three times larger. If it was as large as some mercator projection maps show, it would be a continent.
biologyinsights.com

Weapons-grade stupid doesn't even come close. The US already has (or did have) bi-lateral agreements with Denmark regarding the stationing of troops in Greenland for the defense of the north. That's in addition to NATO arrangements for the same purpose.

And there's also this. If the US were to attack Greenland, would NATO declare article 5? Potentially, you would have US service members on NATO staff defending against US service members invading Greenland.

I don't think it would come to that. I think NATO would kick out all US service members first. Which would likely result in shuttering all US military installations in Europe.

Weapons-grade stupid doesn't even come close.

Stupid from whose perspective?

I think NATO would kick out all US service members first. Which would likely result in shuttering all US military installations in Europe.
#21 | Posted by madbomber

And now you get it! Trump is Putin's Beach, and destruction of NATO / weakening the US is exactly what our Putin/Trump presidency is all about.

"And now you get it! Trump is Putin's Beach, and destruction of NATO / weakening the US is exactly what our Putin/Trump presidency is all about."

I don't think so. If that were the case, JSOC would not have stormed the Russian flagged shadow ship off of Norway a few days ago.

Trump seems to be after clicks. Which as a media personality, it's understandable. Mo clicks, mo betta.

Security fears and dreams of minerals behind Trump's push to 'own' Greenland
www.nbcnews.com

... To hear President Donald Trump tell it, a push to take control of Greenland is a "national security" necessity, critical to reinforcing control of the Arctic against possible threats from Russia and China.

For America's allies and Greenlanders themselves, however, Trump's threats to seize the semi-autonomous Danish territory cut much deeper, and threaten to shatter the decades-old principle of Western defense cooperation.

But there may be little they can do to stop it.

"This is a threat that is completely appalling, to be honest," Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, said in an interview Thursday. "You can't just buy another country, a people, the soul of Greenland," she added.

"Everybody in Greenland is discussing it, and many people are worried and concerned."

That alarm is shared across European capitals.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused the United States on Thursday of "breaking free from the international rules that it used to promote," while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned the world risked descending into a "den of robbers, where the most unscrupulous take whatever they want." ...

@#24

My guess is that Pres Trump is using "security fears" as a smoke screen to get unfettered access to Greenland's mineral supply.

Much as he used "fentanyl trafficking" as an excuse to get unfettered access to Venezuela's oil reserves.

It's the end of NATO, is all.

Republicans have been groomed to turn on NATO for a solid fifteen or twenty years now.

This is Foundations Of Geopolitics 101 stuff.

Republicans have been feeding safely from Putin's hand through the likes of Maria Butina for decades now.

@#26

I do not disagree with your comments regarding Pres Trump's apparent desire to break NATO. But, to me, that is more of a longer-term goal of the GOP, as you also note.

Pres Trump is transactional. And in Greenland he sees money in minerals and a transaction he wants.

Breaking up NATO would just be a side-benefit for him.

Look at the possible oil revenue from Venezuela. Pres Trump has said he will control the revenue. That the revenue will be placed in private bank accounts (that he controls?), not the US Treasury.

I can't help but suspect that all this barking and growling about taking Greenland by forceis really, in the end, about telling Russia and China: Hands Off. Unfortunately, Greenland is stuck in the middle of all this totalitarian posturing. And... Trump clearly is stupid enough to make the situation far more dangerous than it already seems to be.

At least, imo, that is really what is going on here.

... U.S. officials have discussed sending lump sum payments to Greenlanders as part of a bid to convince them to secede from Denmark and potentially join the United States, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

While the exact dollar figure and logistics of any payment are unclear, U.S. officials, including White House aides, have discussed figures ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The idea of directly paying residents of Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark, offers one explanation of how the U.S. might attempt to "buy" the island of 57,000 people, despite authorities' insistence in Copenhagen and Nuuk that Greenland is not for sale.

The tactic is among various plans being discussed by the White House for acquiring Greenland, including potential use of the U.S. military. But it risks coming off as overly transactional and even degrading to a population that has long debated its own independence and its economic dependence on Denmark.

"Enough is enough ... No more fantasies about annexation," Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday after U.S. President Donald Trump again told reporters the U.S. needed to acquire the island. ...

#29: Trump believes that most people throughout the world are whores for money. And, in so far as his main life experience has been in the real estate business, it is easy to understand why he believes that. But, other than MAGAts, Oligarchs and people who mostly lean fascist, sovereignty is a separate non-negotiable issue.

I don't think so.
Just like many strong on defense conservative/moderates didn't think he would turn on Ukraine as soon as he took office a year ago.

If that were the case, JSOC would not have stormed the Russian flagged shadow ship off of Norway a few days ago.
Yes, when he took control of an empty ship that had painted a Russian flag on itself mid-voyage and now wants to give himself cover as being a tough-on-Russia. As he works tirelessly to lift sanctions on Russia, readmit it to the G8, and force Ukraine to surrender and give Russia 20% of their nation.

Trump seems to be after clicks. Which as a media personality, it's understandable. Mo clicks, mo betta.
#23 | Posted by madbomber
Certainly seems to work on some of us better than others. Look at the shiny baubles! Ignore the fact that even the GOP took his threats so seriously that:

Congress approves bill barring any president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO
Congress has approved legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress.
thehill.com

Didn't need that law for 70+ years until Donald "I Bend Over for Russia" Trump took office. So yeah, completely implausible that Trump would do through subterfuge what he openly declared as his desire but no longer has authority to do legally.

Trump says US will take Greenland the 'easy way or hard way'
www.dw.com

... What did Trump say about Greenland?

"We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not," the president told reporters at the White House while meeting with oil company executives.

"Because, if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor," he said.

Trump has previously said he would not rule out using military force to take the largely ice-covered island, which has a population of 57,000.

"I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way, but if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way," he said on Friday. ...