Since his reemergence in the political scene, some have wondered if Donald Trump is only continuing to seek and hold office simply to settle old scores. If all this man ever thinks of is himself, then what reason do we have to believe that he really means what he says to his MAGA crowds, especially when the rhetoric involves patriotic slogans like “America first?” In fact, considering how hell-bent he seems to be on ruining political relations with other ally countries like Canada, Panama, and even Denmark lately, one would think that the orange cheeto-in-chief’s vendetta isn’t actually against his Democrat opponents, but the whole country.
Trying to make sense of Donald Trump’s actions is like trying to play chess with someone who insists it’s checkers and that they’ve already won, but one thing that can usually give it away is how those actions will end up benefitting Donald Trump. The convicted president-elect is comfortable pushing the GOP’s agenda when it serves his purposes, but dare we assume he could actually do something for once that helps the American people? After all, and despite his claims, Trump’s performance in his first tenure had disastrous ramifications for the economy, namely via the rise of the federal deficit, the punitive result of tariffs, and the negative trickle-down from corporate tax cuts.
Now, Trump is insisting that Canada increase its border security lest he put tariffs on their goods, ridiculing its prime minister Justin Trudeau by referring to him as “governor” and the country as the “51st state.” He’s provoking Panama by threatening that maybe it’s time we took over the Panama Canal again. Last but not least, Trump once again wants to claim ownership of Greenland, despite the controversy caused by that line of reasoning in 2019 during his administration. None of this is characteristic of a man who, in his own words, wants to bring peace to the world.
But let’s assume for one moment that Trump knows what he’s doing — as implausible as that sounds. In that case, why on Earth is the president-elect going after Greenland again?
Why does Trump want the United States to own Greenland?
Trump has had a long history of… coveting Greenland, for lack of a better word. In 2019, he insisted that Denmark was losing a lot of money over that island and that due to its strategic value, it would be better if they just sold it to the United States. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen clapped back at the time, calling the idea “absurd” and reminding the president that “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant.”
Trump apparently didn’t like to be denied so overtly, so like the eternal man-child that he is, he postponed his planned trip to Denmark. Now, five years later, the president-elect is once again claiming that Greenland should be a part of the United States for “national security” reasons.
“For reasons of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote on his Truth social page, to the bemusement of nearly everyone.
Greenland’s strategic value to NATO couldn’t be overstated, especially following the Russo-Ukranian war that still rages on in Eastern Europe. And given both Trump’s special relationship with Vladimir Putin and shadow president Musk’s meeting with Putin during the election cycle, it’s at least possible that Trump’s bizarre manifest destiny regarding the island nation may stem from a sort of geopolitical dic(tatorship)-measuring contest, whereby both Russia and the U.S. vie for who can annex the most independent nations.
The U.S. military already has a base on Greenland, but it seems that Donald wants the whole place at his beck and call — even if it just happens to undercut decades of diplomacy, and risk further isolation for the United States.