Let’s discuss Greenland, NATO, and Trump’s respect for signed treaties.
Military Experts Disagree With Trump
The Wall Street Journal reports Military Experts Reject Trump’s Logic That U.S. Must Own Greenland to Defend It
“When we own it, we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way. You have to own it,” Trump said Friday. “And we’ll have to defend Greenland. If we don’t do it, China or Russia will.”
But military officials and diplomats say the U.S. has built the world’s most formidable assembly of overseas military bases without owning foreign soil.
The Defense Department manages or uses more than 128 foreign bases in at least 51 countries, according to a Congressional Research Service report from 2024. Independent analyses have said the total number, including smaller facilities, could top 750 installations in 80 countries and territories. Many date to World War II and the Cold War.
In almost all cases, land is provided by host countries under bilateral agreements, without a change of ownership. Host countries generally permit the U.S. to build and operate facilities, as spelled out in detailed diplomatic documents.
“We don’t need ‘ownership’ in order to conduct all the operations we would like to do,” said retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
According to the Pentagon, more than 53,000 active-duty troops are stationed in bases across Japan and more than 36,000 are in Germany. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center there is the Pentagon’s largest overseas medical facility, treating servicemembers from across the hemisphere. The adjacent Ramstein Air Base employs more than 12,000 servicemembers and civilians on approximately 4,000 acres.
Over the past 15 or so years the Pentagon has shifted away from running its own large overseas installations to using sites belonging to allies and partners, an approach dubbed “places, not bases,” according to the congressional report.
And of course, Denmark is part of NATO. Every NATO nation would be obligated to defend Greenland if Russia or China tried to take it.
So Trump’s claim that Russia or China would take Greenland is idiotic.
But Trump does not care what anyone thinks so the next report is unsurprising.
Trump Not Persuaded to Abandon Greenland Pursuit
Please note the expected reaction Trump Not Persuaded to Abandon Greenland Pursuit After White House Talks
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers at the White House in the midst of an extraordinary standoff between the U.S. and its closest allies over the future of the island of 57,000 people. Political leaders in Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of the Danish kingdom, have repeatedly insisted that their home isn’t for sale after Trump’s plans sparked blowback.
A few hours later, Trump reiterated his position that the U.S. needs Greenland for security purposes. “There’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland,” he told reporters. “But there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela…I can’t rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.”
U.S. lawmakers, including some from Trump’s own party, are piling on. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Trump’s Greenland aims are “incinerating the hard won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change across the Arctic.”
“Following through on this provocation would be more disastrous for the president’s legacy than withdrawing from Afghanistan was for his predecessor,” McConnell added.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, on Tuesday proposed legislation that would block the U.S. military from occupying the territory of North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.
“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,” Murkowski said.
Europe Deploys Troops to Greenland
Reuters reports Europeans Send Troops to Greenland as Trump Presses Claim
European countries sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark said it was pressing on with plans for a “larger and more permanent” NATO presence to secure the island coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The modest European deployments, meant to help Denmark prepare military exercises, sent a strong message of support a day after a meeting of officials from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland failed to reach any breakthrough on the impasse.
Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, told journalists in Copenhagen on Thursday he did not have a final figure for the envisaged expanded NATO presence in Greenland.
“But it is clear that we now will be able to plan for a larger and more permanent presence throughout 2026 and that is crucial to show that security in the Arctic is not only for the Kingdom of Denmark, it is for all of NATO.”
Prominent EU countries have backed Denmark, warning that a U.S. military seizure of a territory in NATO could spell the end of the military alliance that Washington leads.
The European military deployment to Greenland sent two messages to the U.S. administration, Marc Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, said.
“One is to deter, is to show that ‘if you decide to do something militarily, we’re ready to defend Greenland’,” he told Reuters.
“And the other purpose is to say: ‘Well, we take your critique seriously, we increase our presence, take care of our sovereignty, and improve surveillance over Greenland’.”
Deployments Small
The scale of the planned European military build-up has not been made public, but initial deployments are tiny.
Germany is sending 13 and France 15 according to Reuters.
Is War with Germany, France, and the UK on Your Bingo Card?
NATO has 32 members (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.)
All 32 countries all committed to defend each other if attacked. The US would be obliged to declare war on itself.
This is why the threat of Trump to just take Greenland by force is idiotic.
If Trump orders an invasion of Greenland, the troops need to understand they are obligated to disobey illegal orders.
No Respect for Treaties, Anything Really
Trump has no use for treaties, even those he initiated.
The USMCA deal with Mexico and Canada comes to mind. USMCA was proposed by Trump, ratified by the Senate 89-10, and President Trump signed the legislation into U.S. law during a White House ceremony on January 29, 2020.
Trump then took the treaty and trashed it.
Let’s not mince words. There is no point to agreeing to any deal with Trump because Trump is a proven repeat liar.
Trump has no respect for his own deals, US signed treaties, the law, or the Constitution. And that is where we are.
USMCA Trump Flashback October 1, 2018
Late last night, our deadline, we reached a wonderful new Trade Deal with Canada, to be added into the deal already reached with Mexico. The new name will be The United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA. It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduces Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations together in competition with the rest of the world. The USMCA is a historic transaction!
Does anyone have any questions regarding the greatness, importance, and historic nature of USMCA to farmers and manufacturers?
Q&A on the Greatness of USMCA
Q: Is 250 percent on cheese fair?
A: It’s not 250 percent. It’s tiered, and embedded into USMCA.
Q: Who signed USMCA?
A: Trump
Q: Who is responsible for this arrangement?
A: Trump
Q: Didn’t Trump brag that USMCA was the best trade deal in history?
A: Yes
Q: Is Trump a good deal maker?
A: Apparently not, by his own admission
Q: Will Trump honor the USMCA deal ratified 89-10 by the Senate and signed by himself?
A: No
Q: Will Trump honor any deal he signs?
A: You tell me, but no one can expect that
Q: Is there a massive lost in trust that Trump will honor any deals he signs
A: Yes
It was such a great deal that Trump thanked Mexico and Canada. Notably USMCA is “Good for everybody – Farmers, Manufacturers, Energy, Unions – tremendous support. Importantly, we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!”
It “greatly opened markets to our farmers” and it even paid for the wall! And it will bring three great nations together!
Lesson from Mark Twain
Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. Mark Twain, The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)
Nonetheless, true supporters simultaneously believe USMCA was a great deal for the US and the same deal is now a bad deal for the US.
Please recall Cheese Was a “Key Achievement” of Trump’s USMCA Trade Agreement
Trump is complaining about Canada’s cheese tariffs. In 2018, he was bragging about cheese.
In case you think that Canada broke the treaty, read the above post for a detailed rebuttal.
Repeating Where We Stand
Trump has no respect for his own deals, US signed treaties, the law, or the Constitution.
And that is where we are.
