President Trump still wants Greenland. Can he get it?

 

File photo of Nuuk Greenland. CNBC/Reuters.

President Trump is weighing multiple options for the United States to gain Greenland. CNBC. Trump says that the United States needs Greenland for national security reasons and wants to ensure the island isn't conquered by China or Russia. He has not ruled out military force to take the island from Denmark, who currently controls the country, but Secretary of State Rubio says that Trump would prefer to buy the island. So far Denmark has ruled out giving up the territory. Trump's desire for Greenland is a long standing one but is being taken more serious now after the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. 

My Comment:

I don't really understand why Europe didn't take this seriously until the raid on Venezuela. Trump is known for saber rattling but his arguments for why we need Greenland are strong. Greenland is one of the more strategic islands in the world, it can control ship, air and missile traffic in both the Artic and North Atlantic. It also has a lot of natural resources and it would be a huge deal if America was able to take the island. 

The bigger problem though is that Denmark isn't able to defend the Island at all. Denmark is a tiny country with an irrelevant military. If Trump wants Denmark and is indeed willing to use military force, there isn't a thing Denmark could do about it. 

Of course, this actually strengthens the argument that America should take Greenland. If Denmark can't defend Greenland without the help of the United States, then they can't do so against Russia and/or China. And both countries would love to have control over Greenland for the same reason Trump and the United States wants it. It has resources and would be a boon in any war happening in the Atlantic Ocean.   

The problem is that Denmark doesn't seem to want to play ball. I understand why, like most European countries they want to act like they are a major player, even though that hasn't been true since World War II. They either can't accept or like to pretend that they aren't in a Suzerainty with the United States. 

Trump is showing that isn't the case. No matter how much Europe likes to crow about being independent, they are pretty much totally under the control of the United States when it comes to foreign policy. Why? Because at any moment the United States could withdraw from NATO and if they did Europe would not be in a position to defend themselves. 

The debacle that was Ukraine shows how true that is. Though the United States contributed massively, Ukraine has always been Europe's war. And given that Ukrain was the largest, most professional and most skilled army in Europe and hasn't been able to beat back the Russians even if Europe destroying their economies trying to arm them shows that they are not likely to be able to defend themselves once the Ukraine situation is resolved. That means that Europe is either going to have to arm up and go independent or they are going to have to give Trump what he wants. And giving up Greenland is a small cost to pay to remain under the United States. 

I'd also say that this is another example that Trump gets the fact that Europe doesn't have a long term future. I am guessing that with immigration there completely out of control and it being made up of almost exclusively military aged-males from the Muslim world, the countries of Europe will end up at war with itself before the next couple of decades are out. Indeed, before ISIS got destroyed they were already essentially at war, with terror attacks at the peak happening almost weekly. Denmark specifically seems like it's in a better position than most countries, but Europe as a whole is in deep trouble and if the EU collapses, Greenland would be left defenseless outside of the United States. 

Of course all of this is to show that the United States could take Greenland if they wanted to, not if they will or not. I am guessing that this is just more Trump bluster, we all know his playbook by now. I don't think Trump realistically thinks that using military force would be a good idea, it would blow up NATO and create a domestic backlash, though as we are seeing with Venezuela, the domestic backlash would probably be limited to progressive Democrats. He's keeping the option open as a negotiating tactic. Rubio gave the game away, he admitted that Trump wants to buy the island, not go to war over it.