Greenland-and President Trump's Ham-Handed Approach

Greenland-and President Trump's Ham-Handed Approach

Saturday, January 17, 2026

President Trump is amping up the temperature over Greenland. He is now imposing new tariffs on several European countries until the Greenland issue is "resolved". Recently, he has made statements in public to the effect that we are going to take Greenland one way or the other, "the easy way or the hard way". His stated position seems to be that either Denmark sells us Greenland or we take it by force.
The justification? Greenland occupies a strategic position in the Arctic Circle, and that Russian and Chinese naval vessels in the region pose a threat.
Let me get one thing out of the way: That is a legitimate concern and one that must be addressed by NATO.
That said, Trump's approach is ham-handed, as is his style. That is how he has spent his life getting things he wanted or things he wanted to have done. The result here is that the Europeans no longer feel they can depend on the US. Of course, we all know that Trump wants our NATO partners to do much more in the defense of their own continent. I have no quarrel with that.
What I find troubling is Trump's tendency to alienate our friends and allies. That is exactly what is happening here. It is not that I am pro-Europe. They have enough problems of their own, largely of their own making, which this site regularly reports on. But in this case, one cannot blame them for being offended, especially Denmark, to say nothing of the Greenlanders.
Here is how the Greenland issue should be handled: Trump and his pertinent cabinet members should sit down with NATO (which includes Denmark) and explain our concerns regarding the Russians and Chinese. The US, as part of NATO, already has a small military presence in Greenland. Our position would be that this presence and the overall NATO presence should be dramatically increased for the sake of everyone's security.
If Trump wants to purchase Greenland, he can sit down with Denmark and make the offer. If Denmark says Greenland is not for sale (which they have so stated), Trump needs to back off. The reasonable solution is for NATO to jointly agree that Russian and Chinese encroachment is unacceptable and that there will be a much greater NATO presence in Greenland.
As it is, this drama is giving the US a black eye. And it was totally unnecessary.

Posted by Gary Fouse at 12:16 PM

FOUSESQUAWK: Greenland-and President Trump's Ham-Handed Approach




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