Donald Trump is obsessed with acquiring Greenland, which he says is vital to U.S. national security interests.
He has reiterated time and again that all options are on the table, including use of the military.
Now, however, reports are surfacing that Trump is considering a massive payout to get Greenland residents behind the move.
I understand Trump’s point of view on this, but I don’t agree with it, not to the point of making a military move against an allied country. Nor do I think we can financially absorb Greenland right now.
Trump sees things differently, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating, "All options are always on the table for President Trump as he examines what's in the best interest of the United States, but I will just say that the president's first option always has been diplomacy.”
Earlier in the week, Trump had expressed the urgency of the matter, stating, “Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
He continued, “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."
There are approximately 57,000 residents in Greenland, and Trump would like every one of them to support an American acquisition.
To that point, he is now reportedly considering a payout of $100,000 to every resident, which is nearly $6 billion. But that would not include any other payments to Greenland itself or to Denmark in compensation (Greenland is currently considered an autonomous territory under Denmark’s kingdom).
Denmark gives Greenland about $3 billion per year in aid, but based on logistics and the need to add personnel to the area, our figure would be considerably higher.
For now, however, this is all for naught because Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, is not interested, stating, "This is enough. No more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation."
Trump’s obsession is now on the radar of our allies, who are reportedly working on a plan to deploy in the event the president decides to make an aggressive move against Greenland.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated, "We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Jesper Møller Sørensen, have all expressed their willingness to support Denmark and Greenland, so this is a real problem for Trump.
Does Trump really want to go to war with allies over Greenland? It is worth noting that he cannot just “acquire” this nation without congressional approval. The president has definitely tested the limits of presidential power during his second term, but I don’t see anything positive coming from this approach, and that includes the potential fallout from a lot of Americans, including myself, who would be outraged to see our tax dollars being paid out to Greenland residents.
