They Finally Stood Up To The Bully - And He Backed Down

Most reasonable people understand that appeasement does not work with a bully. It just encourages the bully to continue (and even expand) his bullying.

For far too long, nations, law firms, media organizations, and too many people have tried to appease the bully currently living in our White House. It has not worked. It just encouraged him to continue the bullying and make even crazier demands.

But he went too far. When he demanded that Denmark (and NATO) give him Greenland or he would take it by force, that was a demand that could not be appeased - and the world finally stood up to the bully.

The NATO nations together said NO and stood up.

The stock market, with a huge sell-off, said NO.

The Congress said NO, and even Republican members made it clear there was enough support pass a veto-proof war powers resolution to stop him - and maybe even impeach him.

The people of Greenland said NO and demonstrated against a U.S. takeover.

And the American people said NO. Poll after poll showed that overwhelming majorities of Americans (including even majorities of Republicans) opposed the taking or buying of Greenland. 

He tried one last time at Davos to bully the world into giving him Greenland, but it didn't work. It just made him look crazy in front of the entire world.

SO HE BACKED DOWN!

He said he had reached the "concept" of an agreement with the NATO commander. But there was no agreement - or even a concept of an agreement. It was simply a face-saving attempt by Trump to say that.

Unfortunately, even though Trump backed down, all is not well. Trump ridiculous demand and threats has convinced other nations (once our reliable allies) that he cannot be trusted - and the American people can't be trusted not to elect an insane leader. It will be a long time before we can again earn that trust - if ever.

In short, Trump has made the world a much more dangerous place for everyone.

Seizing Greenland Would Be Trump's Stupidest Move

Donald Trump has done a lot of stupid things since starting his second term, but they would all pale in comparison to seizing Greenland - the territory of a NATO ally.

I can't understand what he thinks would be accomplished by doing that. Does he believe we need more bases or troops in Greenland to enhance U.S. security? We don't have to seize Greenland to do that. The 1951 accord between Denmark and the United States would already allow us to do that.

Does he want to mine Greenland's minerals (especially rare earth minerals? Both Greenland and Denmark have already said they are open to allowing that to happen.

Does he really think Russia or China would try to take Greenland? If they did, they would face the militaries of all of the NATO nations - which would be more formidable than the United States alone.

The truth is that seizing Greenland would be of no benefit to the United States (except to feed the ego of the narcissist currently living in the White House) - but it would have a huge negative effect.

It would amount to an attack on a NATO ally, and that very likely would destroy NATO. The NATO nations have backed the United States when it needed them (like in Afghanistan). But they would no longer be able to trust the United States if it attacked a fellow member. And an alliance without mutual trust is not an alliance at all.

Trump thinks taking Greenland would demonstrate American strength. But it would actually make the United States weaker, because it would then be alone without any allies to help it. And it wouldn't just be our European allies - how could our Asian and African allies trust that we would have their backs after seeing us attack an ally?

The United States is the strongest economic and military force of any nation, but alone it is much weaker. 

 

Voters Have Negative Opinion Of ICE And Plan To Take Greenland (Navigator Poll)

 

These charts are from the Navigator Poll -- done between January 8th and 12th of a nationwide sample of 1,000 registered voters, with a 3.1 point margin of error.

Americans Oppose Trump Taking Greenland (By Force Or Payments)

 

The charts above reflect the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 9th and 12th of a nationwide sample of 1,602 adults (including 1,437 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.3 points for adults and 3.1 points for registered voters.

Most Oppose Trump's Plan For U.S. Expansion (Especially By Force)

The chart above is from a YouGov Poll -- done between February 4th and 6th of a nationwide sample of 1,142 U.S. citizens, with a 4 point margin of error.
 

Most Oppose Trump Trying To Buy/Take Greenland

 

The charts above reflect the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 12th and 14th of a nationwide sample of 1,558 adults (including 1,425 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.6 points (and 3.3 points for registered voters).

Is Trump Stupid And Narcissistic Enough To Invade Greenland?

In his first term, Donald Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark. The government of Denmark made it very clear that would never happen.

But Trump's desire to own Greenland has not ceased. Just before Christmas, Trump posted on his social media site that " for purposes of national security" he feels the "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity". Note that he didn't say anything about buying it this time - just owning and controlling it.

Greenland is a large island with an area of about 836,330 square miles, but it has a small population of only about 57,000 people. It has a small police force, but no military. The defense of the island is done by Denmark. 

That defense is by the Royal Danish Navy's 1st Squadron. That squadron consists of:

Four Thetis-class patrol vessels

and three Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessels

Those vessels would be useless, because Trump would not have to attack the island from the sea. 

The United States has a base in Greenland - the Pituffik Space Base. There are only a few soldiers stationed there and it is blocked by ice most of the year, but it's airfield remains operational all year. Within just a few hours, the U.S. could fly in a substantial numbers of troops - enough to seize the island easily!

Denmark is not taking Trump's words as a joke. They have voted to substantially increase funding for Greenland's defense. If they are smart, they will station a substantial amount of Danish troops on the island to prevent a takeover - at least for the next four years.

Is it possible Trump would try to seize Greenland? I think it is. 

It would destroy relations with Denmark and NATO (and possibly end U.S. involvement in NATO), but Trump doesn't care much about either. He thinks it would enhance his own legacy.

Trump is not very smart and completely ignorant of foreign affairs - and his narcissism and egomania could easily drive him to make such a colossal blunder.

Don't write this off as a joke. It's much more likely a power move by an authoritarian.

Trump Insults Another Good Ally Of The United States

I have to admit that when I heard Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland, I thought it was a joke. Sadly, it wasn't. The idiot occupying our White House was serious about trying to buy Greenland -- a part of Denmark with self-rule.

It was an absurd idea, and Denmark's Prime Minister (Mette Frederickson) said so. She made it clear that Greenland was not for sale at any price.

That should have been the end of the matter, but it wasn't. Trump narcissism can't take anyone saying NO to him, especially a woman. So, he cancelled the scheduled visit to Denmark.

When he got some negative feedback from both American and Danish citizens, he tried to cover for his childish action by saying the Danish prime minister had been nasty to the United States. He said her calling his proposal absurd was an insult to the United States. It wasn't.

She was not referring to the United States in calling the proposal absurd, but to Trump. And it was not an insult, because it was absurd.

Danish officials are now insulted by the cancellation of the scheduled trip, and they should be insulted. Denmark has been a good ally to the United States. When Bush called for allies to help him in Afghanistan, Denmark was one of the first to respond, and send troops to help. And when Bush stupidly invaded Iraq, Denmark again had our backs -- even before France and Germany.

Some other nations (like Canada, Germany, France, Australia, etc.) had already realized that with Trump in the White House, the United States could not be trusted to back her allies or provide leadership for the free world. Now Denmark has been shown the U.S. has an insane leader who cannot be trusted.