White House Floats Military Option for Greenland

[Huckleberry]

Washington Post gift link

White House floats military option for Greenland, rattling Denmark and NATO


The rhetoric follows a dramatic U.S. raid in Venezuela and revives Trump’s long-standing focus on Greenland, transforming diplomatic discussions into fears of coercion. But U.S. military posture there remains unchanged.

 

[92tide]

does this mean we won't get our tariff refund?

 

[spidermayin]

I never understood how Greenland has so much ice, but Iceland has so much green.

 

[spidermayin]

Seriously though, is this real life?

 

[JDCrimson]

Seriously though, is this real life?

Yeah it is brought to you by neighborly Republicans...

 

[jthomas666]

At least he's not wanting to annex the Sudetenland.

 

[Bamaro]

Even trump may not be stupid enough to persue this.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

A frozen Puerto Rico? Yeah, that's just what we need.

 

[T Bone]

i just read we are sending over a special envoy now, negotiate or we take it. lol.

 

[92tide]

Even trump may not be stupid enough to persue this.

narrator: he was in fact stupid enough to pursue this

 

[Tidewater]

At least he's not wanting to annex the Sudetenland.

It would be funny to ask him to point out Sudetenland on a map. I'd pay to see that.

 

[Tidewater]

Washington Post gift link

White House floats military option for Greenland, rattling Denmark and NATO


The rhetoric follows a dramatic U.S. raid in Venezuela and revives Trump’s long-standing focus on Greenland, transforming diplomatic discussions into fears of coercion. But U.S. military posture there remains unchanged.

I usual, I am interested in the source material.
All I have seen is that on Air Force 1, Trump was talking with some journalists about the Maduro arrest and one of the journalists asked Trump about Greenland, and he responded flippantly, "We'll talk about that in a few weeks." That was his entree into talking about how important Greenland resources were and how Russia and China were maneuvering to gain control of Greenland. He concluded with his usual bluster, "We have to have it," without specifying what "having it" means (having access to resources? Politically controlling/annexing the island?)
Is there some other venue in which Trump has indicated Greenland is next? If so, I haven't seen it.

 

[92tide]

I usual, I am interested in the source material.
All I have seen is that on Air Force 1, Trump was talking with some journalists about the Maduro arrest and one of the journalists asked Trump about Greenland, and he responded flippantly, "We'll talk about that in a few weeks." That was his entree into talking about how important Greenland resources were and how Russia and China were maneuvering to gain control of Greenland. He concluded with his usual bluster, "We have to have it," without specifying what "having it" means (having access to resources? Politically controlling/annexing the island?)
Is there some other venue in which Trump has indicated Greenland is next? If so, I haven't seen it.

fwiw


But Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement clarifying the president's position: Trump believes that acquiring Greenland is a “national security priority” and that using the military is "always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal," she said.

Republican leaders push back on Trump's openness to using the military to take Greenland

The Republican leaders of the House and Senate dismissed the idea of using the U.S. military to take over Greenland, even as the White House has insisted it is on the table.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Tidewater]

fwiw


But Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement clarifying the president's position: Trump believes that acquiring Greenland is a “national security priority” and that using the military is "always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal," she said.

Republican leaders push back on Trump's openness to using the military to take Greenland

The Republican leaders of the House and Senate dismissed the idea of using the U.S. military to take over Greenland, even as the White House has insisted it is on the table.

www.nbcnews.com

I read that and I still do not think the 82nd is loading magazines getting ready to jump into Greenland.
I looked at Wikipedia on the subject and was surprised to learn that "Since the 19th century, the United States has made several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark. There were notable internal discussions within the U.S. federal government about acquiring Greenland in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019, and 2025, and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by President Donald Trump, among others."
The Danes themselves offered to sell Greenland to the US in the early 1900s.
The US pre-emptively occupied Greenland in summer 1941 (before entry into the Second World War) and the US formally offered to buy it in 1946.
I think that if a serious military threat from Russia or China developed, the US might act pre-emptively again, like FDR did.

So, Trump's loose talk is unseemly, but until US paratroopers appear over Nuuk, I'm not too worried. Seizing a Russian-flagged Ghost Fleet tanker, however, is a bigger deal.

 

[92tide]

I read that and I still do not think the 82nd is loading magazines getting ready to jump into Greenland.
I looked at Wikipedia on the subject and was surprised to learn that "Since the 19th century, the United States has made several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark. There were notable internal discussions within the U.S. federal government about acquiring Greenland in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019, and 2025, and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by President Donald Trump, among others."
The Danes themselves offered to sell Greenland to the US in the early 1900s.
The US pre-emptively occupied Greenland in summer 1941 (before entry into the Second World War) and the US formally offered to buy it in 1946.
I think that if a serious military threat from Russia or China developed, the US might act pre-emptively again, like FDR did.

So, Trump's loose talk is unseemly, but until US paratroopers appear over Nuuk, I'm not too worried. Seizing a Russian-flagged Ghost Fleet tanker, however, is a bigger deal.

personally, i thinks he’s just running his mouth as usual, but in his position, that is extremely dangerous and it comes across as some sort of shake down

 

[Tidewater]

personally, i thinks he’s just running his mouth as usual, but in his position, that is extremely dangerous and it comes across as some sort of shake down

Agreed, Among his many failings, he does tend to shoot his mouth off without thinking about implications. If I was a Dane, I would not appreciate that.

 

[Bazza]

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Well, someone thought of asking the Greenlanders themselves what they thought about being part of the US and the answer was a resounding "NO!" Of course that doesn't matter, since they just happen to live there...

 

[Tidewater]

Well, someone thought of asking the Greenlanders themselves what they thought about being part of the US and the answer was a resounding "NO!" Of course that doesn't matter, since they just happen to live there...

Imperial powers tend to not think that way.
FDR did not ask the Greenlanders in 1941. He asked the Danish ambassador to the US.
South Carolinians, Georgians, Floridians, Alabamians, Mississippians, Louisianans and Texans in 1861 clearly indicated their preference.