What to make of Trump advance on Greenland?
Since we began publishing this weekly column we’ve picked out news stories from the week that was to feature on as a point of interest – something that has got the country talking, or perhaps just us.
One story and one story only has really been talked about this week, and even if you’re tired of hearing about it, or its main character, there’s no avoiding it.
What can be said about the developments of the past week?
Here’s what happened:
US President-elect Donald Trump again called for the US to take control of Greenland. He sent his son Don Jr on a short, unofficial trip, which had the (presumably) intended effect of creating a huge dose of hype around Trump’s desires towards the Arctic territory.
The same day, Trump said a deal for the US to annex Greenland “must happen” and that he could use military coercion to achieve that, in a speech that trashed diplomatic norms, even by his standards.
Greenland’s government leader, Múte B. Egede, who said before Christmas that Greenland is not for sale, was scheduled to meet King Frederik in Copenhagen. The meeting was postponed due to “scheduling issues”, adding to the overall speculation, but eventually took place just a few hours later than originally planned.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called for calm and said she “could not imagine” the situation resulting in military action by the US. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who like Frederiksen has first-hand experience of Trump from his own time as Danish PM, denied a foreign policy crisis was ongoing. Frederiksen reiterated that the future of Greenland can only be decided by Greenland.
The Danish government then held a meeting with the leaders of all the Danish political parties, including the opposition, as well as Copenhagen’s Greenlandic MPs. After the meeting, Frederiksen said she was seeking talks with Trump over the matter but that these probably won’t happen until after his inauguration on January 20th. EU leaders spoke out in support of Denmark.
Have I missed anything? Oh yes, Trump Jr told Fox News Danes are racist towards Greenlanders and Greenlandic MP Aaja Chemnitz agreed with him. Frederiksen admitted racism exists in Denmark but said the general claim Danes are racist was wide of the mark.
And breathe.
READ ALSO:
- INTERVIEW: 'Everything the US could want from Greenland, they already have'
- EXPLAINER: Why is Greenland a part of the Danish Kingdom?
- EXPLAINER: How easily could Greenland break away from Denmark?
What does all this mean and how damaging could it get for Denmark?
Firstly, and perhaps most immediately, Greenland has elections in the spring, and the outcome of these could be affected by further statements or offers made by Trump.
Experts have pointed out that the US, which already has large military concessions in Greenland, has little to gain in terms of regional security by taking over administration of the territory – even if Greenland were to decide it wanted this.
As for Trump’s aggressive rhetoric? Løkke made a good point, in my view, when he said that “you can take Trump seriously without taking him literally”.
Denmark will take Trump seriously – there’ll be none of the easy brushing aside we saw in 2019, when Frederiksen called the discussion of a Greenland sale “absurd”, putting Trump’s nose so out of joint that he cancelled a state visit to the country.
Trump’s first period in office told us that he has ingen filter (no filter), as Danes would put it, when it comes to international diplomacy – he literally doesn’t care what he says. He can say things he doesn’t mean, and make threats he has no intention of going through with.
On the other hand, his inherent unpredictability makes it hard to judge how far he actually is willing to go to get Greenland, and whether he would take any kind of ‘no’ for an answer, whether it comes from Denmark or Greenland itself.
Denmark has long since recognised Greenland's right to decide its own future, but the having the process ripped from its control, by the country it thought was its closest international ally, would represent a humiliation of proportions.
Comments