I have often said that, while Donald Trump sometimes says dumb things, he rarely actually does dumb things. His current policies toward Greenland, sadly, are an exception to that rule.
Trump wants to acquire Greenland, and has explicitly or implicitly threatened to do so by force if we can’t buy it from Denmark. This is Trump’s most recent pronouncement:
Wanting Greenland is understandable: its location makes it strategically important, and there are lots of minerals there. So Trump wants military bases and mining. But Hans Bader argues that the case for acquiring Greenland is nevertheless weak. We have a base in Greenland, and we used to have more. If we think we need additional bases there, all we need to do is ask. Any such request would undoubtedly be granted.
As for Greenland’s minerals, there is a reason why there has been virtually no effort to exploit them. Greenland is a frozen wasteland, and mining there–like everything else–would be extremely challenging. The day could come when it makes sense to undertake the project of trying to mine in Greenland, but it would be far easier and cheaper to overcome Democratic resistance and mine here in the U.S. And again, both Denmark and Greenland would be delighted if American companies wanted to invest billions in mining in Greenland. The last thing we need to do to facilitate mining is invade the country.
Thus there is no need to acquire Greenland, but if we wanted to do so, we could. Greenland is virtually uninhabited. It would be easy for us to buy the loyalty of the 50,000 or so Greenlanders, and persuade them to become a U.S. territory. But Trump’s threats of invasion have made the issue one of sovereignty and patriotism. That was frankly stupid, since there was never any possibility that the U.S. would invade Greenland. Suggesting such a thing was a foolish unforced error.
Now Trump has compounded his mistake by imposing tariffs not just on Denmark, but on other European countries, “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.” As a result, Western Europe is rallying behind Denmark in opposing a U.S. takeover:
Sir Keir Starmer condemned Donald Trump as “completely wrong” for igniting a trade war with Britain in an attempt to force a deal on Greenland.
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On Saturday night, the Prime Minister said he would be “pursuing this directly with the US administration”.Sir Keir’s measured language came in stark contrast with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who said of the tariffs: “No intimidation nor threat will influence us.”
The tariffs are another unforced error. Without having made any serious effort to expand our military presence in Greenland, let alone to buy it, Trump, through his pointless threats, has confirmed the caricature of him that prevails in most of Europe. He has thus turned what could have been a relatively painless (if unnecessary) transaction into an international fiasco.
There could be another effect, too. I believe the tariffs Trump has just imposed on European countries are adopted pursuant to the “emergency” power that is now under review by the Supreme Court. While technically immaterial, the fact that Trump has used that alleged power in a patently irresponsible way could sway some justices in the direction of holding that he doesn’t have it.
The bottom line is that Trump has turned a significant but manageable geopolitical issue into a morass. He needs to extricate himself, and the simplest way to do so is to 1) stop talking publicly, and 2) lay out to Denmark and Greenland the military steps that he wants to take, to which they will certainly acquiesce.
