President Trump has repeatedly called for the annexation of Greenland since 2019, recently appointing former Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland on December 21.
Unless President Trump unilaterally wants to destroy NATO, he needs to stop insisting on annexing or purchasing Greenland. Neither Denmark nor most of the 57,751 inhabitants (est. 2024) of Greenland presently have any interest or desire in selling the Arctic island to the U.S.
Mr. President, your ignominious iterations of annexing Greenland are getting really old. It is especially dangerous to the cohesion of NATO, especially since the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
A U.S. invasion of Greenland would be no different than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It would also be no differentthan the Nazi German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, nor the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939.
Any U.S. annexation of Greenland would immediately and irrevocably split or fragment NATO if not cause its permanent dissolution. What would that accomplish in preventing future Russian aggression, especially against the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, or Finland?
The answer is nothing except for a dreadful justification for the total Russian annexation of Ukraine or China’s conquest of Taiwan.
I recently read an article entitled, “Greenland: Why Does Trump Want U.S. Control Of Arctic Island?” published by Reuters on December 23. It was written by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Stine Jacobsen, and Soren Jeppesen.
Trump shamelessly and mendaciously stated on December 22 that the U.S. needed Greenland for “national security.” His statement seemed oblivious to the people of Denmark, who own Greenland and were one of the twelve founding NATO countries on April 4, 1949.
If President Harry S. Truman were alive today, he would be in deep despair beyond belief.
Did it ever occur to President Trump that Denmark, which has controlled Greenland since 1814 after the Treaty of Kiel, may indeed need Greenland for its own “national security”? I sincerely doubt it.
Trump dishonestly stated on December 22,“‘We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals … If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.‘”
That is most likely an exaggeration unless satellite photographs can prove otherwise. Trump wants Greenland plain and simple for its wealth of rare earth minerals, oil, and other natural resources underneath its (up to) 11,070 feet of thick sheet ice.
The U.S. has had a “national security” presence in Greenland at Pituffik Space Force Base, formerly known as Thule, located in the northwestern part of the Arctic island, since 1951. It is highly debatable, if not greatly exaggerated, that “Chinese ships” have been “all over the place” to justify an annexation of Greenland by military force or any other means.
If so, I would eagerly like to see photographic proof of these “Chinese ships.” Plus, I strongly suspect that these “Chinese ships” are fishing fleets, and Russian submarines have been operating off the coast of Greenland since circa 1950.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called the annexation or purchasing of Greenland “‘absurd.’” She is totally correct.
Mr. President, please stop bullying both Denmark and Greenland. Your unfriendly, aggressive attitude and behavior toward Denmark is embarrassing to U.S. foreign policy worldwide.
If Copenhagen wants our military or technological assistance, I am certain that they will ask for it.
Meanwhile, if I were you, I would concentrate on rebuilding the national government of Venezuela and “the country’s oil infrastructure” while trying to destabilize Communist Cuba.
Ditto for Iran and lowering food prices at the grocery store.
I say leave Greenland alone, and stop listening to jingoistic Stephen Miller, who is the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, along with his wife Katie, about annexing Greenland.
Or else Denmark sooner or later is going to downgrade or cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S.
Until then, I predict that President Trump is more bluff than bluster. Unfortunately, he is also the epitome, at times, of being an ugly American in a potential dispute with Denmark that is both completely counterproductive and unnecessary.
Meanwhile, I say hands off, Denmark!
Robert L. Maronic
