Trump’s Greenland Madness Has NATO on Alert
Europe moves troops north—not for Russia, but for America
By David Shuster
We’ve just gotten another reminder that history, under Trump, is both morbid and mischievous. At this very moment in Greenland, amidst the icebergs and desolation, the great powers of the Western world are assembling – not to repel the Hun or confront Lenin’s Bolsheviks, but to gently, awkwardly, and incredulously discourage the President of the United States from behaving like an intoxicated real estate speculator at a polar auction.
Britain, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden have dispatched soldiers, ships, and warplanes to the Arctic, ostensibly to reassure the world that the Arctic has not been “abandoned,” as Donald J. Trump has alleged. The unspoken purpose, of course, it so make it abundantly clear that any Trump notion of seizing Greenland by force would be met not with applause but with a military clash.
While the once unfathomable situation has the air of farce, the props are real. Troops are arriving. Warplanes are flying. Naval vessels are cutting through frigid seas.
And again, among the military uniforms heading to Greenlandic ice are those of Germany. That’s right. Germany is deploying troops and aircraft to Greenland to fight fascism and imperialism.
What a time to be alive.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is still breathing. And the tensions have even perked up him — the Senate’s most durable fossil.
McConnell this week rose on the Senate floor, or was propped up, and reminded his colleagues in a slow and raspy voice that Greenland has been assisting the United States since World War 1.
McConnell and other lawmakers also noted that Greenland is part of Denmark and Denmark is part of NATO. This means that Greenland is protected not by vibes or polite Scandinavian smiles, but by the collective military obligation of the entire North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.
Russia and China understand this perfectly well. An attack on Greenland would trigger NATO’s response faster than one could say “Article Five.” Yet Donald Trump persists in ignoring NATO and mocking Denmark’s defenses. Trump recently claimed Denmark had bolstered the protection of Greenland with “one additional dog sled.” In reality, Denmark has deployed additional troops, including specialized Arctic units that—brace yourself—sometimes use dogs because dogs are useful in frozen wastelands. This, apparently, is too subtle a concept for Donald Trump.
On Capitol Hill, the reaction to Trump’s rhetoric has ranged from alarm to open disbelief.
Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska is warning that an actual U.S. military invasion of Greenland would end Trump’s presidency, with Republicans joining Democrats in impeachment. An anonymous Republican senator told reporters he “has no understanding how the Trump Greenland thing ever became an idea at all.” The key words are “no understanding.” It’s a concise summary of Trumpism itself. No understanding is the foundation of most Trump ideas.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan Senate delegation is flying to Denmark to reassure the Danish government that even a Republican controlled Senate will block any U.S. military action against Greenland. This is what passes for damage control in the Age of Trump. Sending Senators abroad to explain the U.S. Constitution’s war and budget powers and to remind foreign leaders that the United States does not plan to mug it’s allies in the snow.
Unfortunately, diplomacy has not been helped by the recent meeting in Washington, D.C. between Danish and Greenlandic officials and Trump stooges including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Even though Trump himself was not in the room, the absence of Dementia Don did nothing to improve the atmosphere. Officials on both sides described the meeting as adversarial and strange.
Denmark and Greenland declared their sovereignty a red line. Trump, from a distance, announced that America would “do something” in Greenland whether they liked it or not.
The American public does not like it. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 17 percent of Americans support a U.S. takeover of Greenland, and a microscopic four percent favor doing it by force. Trump, faithful to form, remains undeterred by polling, precedent, alliances, or reality.
And so we now have the ultimate irony and insult.
European troops are being deployed to Greenland, not to defend it from Russia or China, but—if necessary—to protect Greenland from the United States of America. One imagines future historians pausing over this episode, scratching their heads and wondering, What in the hell were they thinking?
The answer is, just another day under Trump.
This is what happens when you put a clown in office, you get the whole freaking circus people. We’ve got ice killing US citizens. We’ve got a pedophile in office and we have a bunch of idiots running the country not to speak about that idiot who’s running the department of war really give me a friggin break. but hey, pass the popcorn.
Get that idiot out of our White House!!!
He ie demented.