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Transatlantic Union Nears Collapse As Trump Demands Greenland
Part of me's surprised Donald Trump didn't threaten to rain "fire and fury" on Copenhagen and a host
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Naturally, I had to circle back to the Foreign Affairs piece that you’d previously summarized and read the whole thing in order to see whether Jeremy Shapiro’s hypothetical future is still tracking with reality (mere days after it was written!) Threatening to take the island by force seems loutish and impractical compared to Shapiro’s yarn of technocratic and diplomatic competence. POTUS is nothing if not predictable, however, and in any transaction, he will resort to the only negotiating tactic he knows: ask for everything, then “settle” for less, obtaining precisely what was desired. Threatening annexation is, I sincerely hope, best conceived of as a hollow threat, an opening move for the sovereignty-twilight scenario.
Whether by force or cunning, the thing about a Greenland take-over that scares me is the implication for Taiwan. Depending on the time frame involved, a US that lets China out of the bottle and loses Taiwan’s economic output and distinctive manufacturing capacity without spending a decade or more securing substitutes for that capacity, will lose far more than in gains!
The “Melian dialogue” in the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides where the neutral island of Melos is given an ultimatum by the far more powerful Athenian empire (Delian league) approx 2400 yrs ago, is surprisingly similar to this whole issue with Greenland today !! The Melians argue about the ethical imperative of respecting their neutrality …while Athens reminds them of the reality of political and military power and its consequences, and then makes them an offer they can’t refuse.
Athens ended up losing the Pelopennesian War.
Our Magalomaniac in Charge fancies himself the Capo Dei Capo of the world. Take my offer or sleep with the fishes. What the heck, why stop with Greenland and Venezuela.
Does anyone besides me think “Truth Social” is the silliest form of communication ever established. It sounds like the name for a kids’ tree house club. How does anyone take this seriously?
Squandering 80 years of alliance capital and soft power to secure a mining claim in the Arctic is the definition of “Penny Wise, Euro Foolish.” It signals to the world that the United States is no longer a “Hegemon” but simply an unhinged bully. Putin orchestrated Brexit, and now the exitUS. Bravo.
Wait until mad king donny notices the Canary Islands. jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, looking like they want to flee Europe ! They need rescued !
I think US congress is severely underestimating the impact all of this government’s actions are having around the world. The US will stand alone for the next few decades if they keep at it.
It seems like there are two other viable options in this situation – either Congress denies Trump the ability to take over Greenland, or (even better) he is impeached.
Back when Trump won the election, there was talk on this website about Deranged Donny being shown a map of the world divided 3 ways and salivating over what he saw. At the time that felt a bit far fetched. A bit over a year later it’s the best explanation for what is unfolding before our very eyes. With that and the hint of civil war brewing in this country now that governor Walz has alerted the Minnesota National Guard to mobilize, I kind of wish I’d moved some money to Switzerland like one of my neighbors and bought some diamonds to sew into the lining of my clothes.
Trump’s folly… The previous had the benefit of Alaska on the table from the start. This one only has the folly.
“Curiouser and curiouser. . . .”
–Lewis Carroll
The thing about dealing with Trump is that he’s not just a bully. He’s also a crazyman. Europe has finally realized that toadying up to him is worthless, because anything he commits to, he’ll renege on. So, if they’re not going to stroke his ego and acquiesce, the obvious alternative is just to say no, let him blow his stack, and take that wherever it goes, and that’s what they’ve done.
It was hardly necessary to send a large force to get the message across. A few was enough, since the plan was not to fight a war, at least not this month. It could come to that, and then it would be Europe and probably Canada against the US. Things could get bloody.
Americans who presently face the prospect of the US military being used in the US against Americans, should be wondering whether they also should be getting into a war with NATO? Or is it time to get rid of the crazyman?