Trump, Obsessed with Greenland
The Republican president’s aspiration to make the Danish island “a part of the United States” is yet another slight to international law
When Europe witnesses violent military expansionism in its easternmost area from a superpower like Russia, it seems fantastical to think that a territorial crisis could be opened up in the West. And at the hands of the United States, no less, the guarantor of [Europe]’s security since World War II. But, as unbelievable as it may be, that is what’s playing out at the expense of Greenland, an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty on which Donald Trump has set his sights, and to which he just appointed Republican Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, personal special envoy. An act that has set off logical alarm in both Copenhagen and Brussels.
As well as its unpredictability, one of the current U.S. administration’s primary characteristics is its ability to turn what seem like whims into real possibilities. When, at the start of his presidential term, Trump threatened to assimilate Greenland into the U.S. — like Canada and the Panama Canal — few took him seriously. But he has continued to persevere in that direction, which shouldn’t be underestimated.
Landry’s appointment isn’t merely symbolic; it’s accompanied by the explicit mandate — as Trump himself announced — of making the island — over 2 million square kilometers (about 770,000 million square miles) in size — “a part of the U.S.” Although Trump wrongly considers it in the interest of his country’s security, this is a — rhetorical but direct — attack on the sovereignty of Denmark, a slight to international law and a violation of the loyalty that is supposed to exist between allied democracies within NATO.
The fact that both the Danish government and the highest institutions in the EU have had to remind him of the obvious — that sovereignty and territorial integrity are insurmountable — shows to what lengths populism is prepared to strain relations and, in this case, pacific relations with historic allies. The fact that Danish military intelligence has proceeded to consider the U.S. as a potential security threat and isn’t ruling out the use of force, shows the worrying turn that the controversy is taking.
The appointment decreed by Trump is unprecedented but is already part of an aggressive and destabilizing pattern. This new move comes as the echoes of the publication of the U.S. National Security Strategy, which openly defends the possibility of meddling in the internal affairs of third countries and questions the inviolability of borders, haven’t yet faded away. All in the name of a phantasmagoric threat, of conspiratorial origin, that foretells “the extinction of European civilization.” The question is whether, as it seems, Trump is trying to be an active participant in that movement.
When Europe witnesses violent military expansionism in its easternmost area from a superpower like Russia, it seems fantastical to think that a territorial crisis could be opened up in the West. And at the hands of the United States, no less, the guarantor of [Europe]’s security since World War II. But, as unbelievable as it may be, that is what’s playing out at the expense of Greenland, an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty on which Donald Trump has set his sights, and to which he just appointed Republican Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, personal special envoy. An act that has set off logical alarm in both Copenhagen and Brussels.
As well as its unpredictability, one of the current U.S. administration’s primary characteristics is its ability to turn what seem like whims into real possibilities. When, at the start of his presidential term, Trump threatened to assimilate Greenland into the U.S. — like Canada and the Panama Canal — few took him seriously. But he has continued to persevere in that direction, which shouldn’t be underestimated.
Landry’s appointment isn’t merely symbolic; it’s accompanied by the explicit mandate — as Trump himself announced — of making the island — over 2 million square kilometers (about 770,000 million square miles) in size — “a part of the U.S.” Although Trump wrongly considers it in the interest of his country’s security, this is a — rhetorical but direct — attack on the sovereignty of Denmark, a slight to international law and a violation of the loyalty that is supposed to exist between allied democracies within NATO.
The fact that both the Danish government and the highest institutions in the EU have had to remind him of the obvious — that sovereignty and territorial integrity are insurmountable — shows to what lengths populism is prepared to strain relations and, in this case, pacific relations with historic allies. The fact that Danish military intelligence has proceeded to consider the U.S. as a potential security threat and isn’t ruling out the use of force, shows the worrying turn that the controversy is taking.
The appointment decreed by Trump is unprecedented but is already part of an aggressive and destabilizing pattern. This new move comes as the echoes of the publication of the U.S. National Security Strategy, which openly defends the possibility of meddling in the internal affairs of third countries and questions the inviolability of borders, haven’t yet faded away. All in the name of a phantasmagoric threat, of conspiratorial origin, that foretells “the extinction of European civilization.” The question is whether, as it seems, Trump is trying to be an active participant in that movement.
Previous article![]( "The United States and Human Rights")
Next article![]( "Thailand and Cambodia Show Trump’s Peace Deal Is Not Sustainable")
