Trump wants Greenland. So he will take it.
Whether They Like It or Not
“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not.”
The Easy Way or the Hard Way
Bloomberg reports Trump Says He’ll Get Deal on Greenland, ‘Easy Way’ or ‘Hard Way’
“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,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House.
Asked if he was considering making a financial offer to the people of the island to entice them to join the US, Trump said he was “not talking about money for Greenland yet.”
“I might talk about that, but right now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” he said.
Trump’s Greenland Grab Triggers Incredulity Then Rattles Europe
Also consider Trump’s Greenland Grab Triggers Incredulity Then Rattles Europe
Never mind that the self-ruling territory is already part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a committed US ally, and secured through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a transatlantic military alliance the US itself helped found and effectively leads. It should be theirs.
Europe is paralyzed.
Not only do officials have no set strategy to address Trump’s threats, they concede they don’t understand what Trump wants and aren’t sure how to improve things. Yet they know they still need the US, despite the once-steady ally growing increasingly hostile.
Even if the US backs off, Trump’s willingness to use military threats against long-standing allies lays bare a painful new reality: European attempts to appease Trump are failing, raising ominous parallels with the wars that tore Europe apart last century.
Greenland’s Response
Greenland’s Lawmakers tell Trump No Amount of Money Can Buy Greenland
There’s no sum of money from Donald Trump that would persuade Greenlanders to join the US, two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament said, underscoring opposition that spans the territory’s political landscape.
Any attempt by the US president to entice the Arctic island with cash is doomed to fail and only risks pushing Greenlanders further away, said Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenland representatives in the Danish legislature, where she chairs the committee focused on the territory’s affairs.
Trump administration officials have discussed sending direct payments to the island’s residents in an effort to lure them to break away from Denmark and join the US, Reuters reported. The amounts under discussion ranged from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, according to the report.
“No amount of money can buy our national soul,” Chemnitz said in an interview in Copenhagen on Friday. “It’s disrespectful to think that you can buy a people. What use is a one-off payment when your entire foundation is being torn away?”
Pushing Greenland further away has already happened.
Greenland was on the verge of breaking away from Denmark in the last election. Instead, Trump talking like a madman dictator swayed the vote for closer ties.
Going to War with NATO
“It’s insane we have to explain this to him [Trump] and the American public. But understand that’s where we’re at right now.”
I Support this Message
Reflections on Location
Illegal Orders
Representative Ted Lieu just drew a crystal clear red line, and it matters more than most people seem to realize. “If any military member, from the generals on down, participates in using force against Greenland without congressional authorization, they are following illegal orders.” That is not rhetoric. That is the law.
The US had Boats in Greenland 500 Years Ago
Was this on your Bingo Card?
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he planned to discuss a U.S. acquisition of Greenland with Danish officials next week.
Denmark should respond: “F*ck Off” . They should not even entertain Rubio until the US changes its message.
More accurately, Rubio should resign. He is a disgrace along with Tulsi Gabbard.
Senator Murkowski Speaks Out
Anchorage Daily News reports Trump and Murkowski spar over Venezuela and Greenland
President Donald Trump lashed out at Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and four other Republican senators on Thursday, blasting what he called their “stupidity” and saying they should not be reelected after they helped advance a resolution that would constrain his power to use additional military force in Venezuela without congressional approval.
Murkowski, in turn, took to the Senate floor to argue against the idea of the U.S. taking control of Greenland, something the president and members of his administration have increasingly called for after U.S. special operation forces struck Caracas on Saturday, capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The public clash is the latest face-off between Trump and Murkowski, who voted to convict Trump on charges of “incitement of insurrection” over the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and has drawn his ire for years when she breaks ranks with Republicans and the president.
Murkowski, co-chair of the Senate Arctic Caucus, said in her floor speech on Thursday that “increasingly aggressive rhetoric from the Trump administration and some members of Congress” aimed at annexing Greenland by force or coercion is “profoundly troubling.”
“There is no reason to treat long-standing allies with such a profound lack of respect,” Murkowski said. “We are talking about the people of Greenland, not to them. The people of Greenland are watching us, and we are not winning them over by treating them as if they were subjects rather than partners. This approach alienates Greenland, Denmark, and many of our allies in Europe, while setting a dangerous example for Russia and China.”
“Mr. President, we have much ahead of us in 2026,” Murkowski said. “Taking — or buying — Greenland should not be on that list. I urge a reset in how these discussions are conducted.”
Murkowski said she met with Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen recently, who said Greenland is eager to talk to the U.S. if it’s interested in national security or critical minerals. She said that Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has suggested that a larger U.S. military presence in Greenland is a conversation worth having, if that’s what the U.S. wants, along with talks on trade, tourism and economic cooperation.
“Every one of our strategic goals can be accomplished with Greenland as a partner rather than a possession,” she said.
“This is the 21st century. The United States should be setting the example for a rules-based global order, not undermining it by disregarding the sovereignty of others,” she said.
I am thoroughly disgusted there is not a 100 percent immediate rebuke in the Senate of this “I want Greenland so I will just take it” attitude.
And there should be enough votes to override any veto.
Instead, only a handful are speaking up.
