Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Moderaterne, M) has requested a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio. On the agenda is Greenland, which the U.S. wants. But early Wednesday morning Danish time, it became clear that the Trump administration is internally divided on how to acquire Greenland.
Thus, Løkke and Denmark risk once again speaking with a representative of the Trump administration who ultimately has no influence on the U.S.’s actions regarding Greenland. The drive to make Greenland American and thereby geographically expand the U.S. is primarily driven by U.S. President Donald Trump.
This uncertainty is tied to Denmark’s diplomatic efforts to make the world’s strongest military power realize that the cost of taking over parts of a NATO ally’s territory is higher than the benefits.
Tuesday night Danish time, the conflicting signals from Trump’s administration were more evident than ever. The White House stated that President Donald Trump »is discussing a range of options« for acquiring Greenland and made it clear that, of course, the use of the American military is always an option available to the Commander-in-Chief.
Conflicting messages
The idea that the U.S., as a NATO ally, would use military force against the Danish Realm, would have been considered absurd before Trump took office for his second term. That it is now described as a given and a possible last resort shows how much the world has changed.
So far, so bad. But the statement comes alongside American media descriptions of how Rubio downplays concerns about American military intervention. According to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Rubio has said that the confrontational statements from Trump himself and the White House are »rhetoric meant to pressure Denmark into negotiating«.
So what should one believe? Are Trump’s and his administration’s statements just a show to get Denmark to the negotiating table? Or is it serious, potentially to be executed within six months, as Sweden’s former Prime Minister Carl Bildt has warned?
It depends on whom you speak with. But unfortunately for Denmark and Greenland, Trump is the boss of Marco Rubio – not the other way around.
Rhetoric from ’Game of Thrones’
Against Rubio’s interpretation that the statements from the Trump administration are nothing more than rhetoric to get Denmark to the negotiating table, stand the statements made by the White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Miller says we live in a world governed by strength and power, and no one will challenge the U.S. militarily if it chooses to make Greenland part of the U.S.
»These are the iron laws of the world since the dawn of time«, says Miller, sounding more like a line from ’Game of Thrones’ than a foreign policy proposal.
It is a clear definition of imperialism, as Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, has stated. Miller is interesting in this context because he is one of Trump’s most used advisors. He is also a Trump loyalist to the core and does not contradict the president’s ideas. Therefore, Miller’s words are seen in American media as the thought behind Trump’s increasingly unilateral foreign policy.
Trump has, in the days since the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, talked more about a more expansionist foreign policy, including taking over Greenland.
Republican: stop the nonsense, Trump
Marco Rubio, as foreign minister, represents a different line. CNN describes how the State Department has presented an analysis of the untapped resources in Greenland, including rare earth elements. The conclusion is that there is no reliable study of how large these resources are and that it will be costly to access them due to cold temperatures and lack of infrastructure.
But Rubio’s words do not convince Trump. He is, as described in several American media, captivated by the very idea of expanding U.S. territory. Denmark and other European countries repeatedly tell U.S. representatives that Greenland can be better secured militarily through maintaining the NATO alliance. If the U.S. wants more American troops and coastal security, it can easily be arranged. If the U.S. wants to invest in exploiting and extracting Greenland’s minerals, that can also happen.
It is a faint light in the darkness that Trump’s and Miller’s recent statements have led to greater opposition, even among Republicans in Congress.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, co-chairs of the Senate’s bipartisan NATO observer group, described Denmark in a statement Tuesday as an ally that has »earned our unwavering respect«.
Republican Don Bacon, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, has urged the Trump administration to »stop the silly ’we want Greenland nonsense’« and called on other Republicans to oppose military action against Greenland.
Against the increased opposition stands a president surrounded by loyalists who are becoming more and more impatient to expand the U.S.
Welcome to a fateful year for the Danish Realm.
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