There are a hundred articles I could be writing today about ICE in Minnesota, a topic that has dominated my thoughts since the administration started “Operation Metro Surge.” That I’m writing about this instead should give you an idea of how important and urgent I believe this issue to be.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Stoere, texted Donald Trump on behalf of himself and the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb. Here is the full text of his message:
“Dear Mr President, dear Donald – on the contact across the Atlantic – on Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine – and your tariff announcement yesterday. You know our position on these issues. But we believe we all should work to take this down and de-escalate – so much is happening around us where we need to stand together. We are proposing a call with you later today – with both of us or separately – give us a hint of what you prefer! Best – Alex and Jonas”
(In case you have not heard, President Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on our European allies in an attempt to pressure Denmark into giving up Greenland. As we know, American consumers and businesses absorb the cost of these tariffs; once again we are the whipping boy he punishes when other countries displease him.)
How did the leader of the free world respond to this extremely polite and respectful request for a conversation with fellow alliance leaders?
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
Take a moment. Read it again.
I’ll go on to break this down line by line, but here’s the bottom line: This man is manifestly insane. He is vain and ignorant and in the grip of megalomania, and poses a serious threat to the overall peace western civilization has enjoyed since the end of World War Two. We are solidly in 25th Amendment territory, but this Cabinet will never fulfill that duty, so Congress should remove him from office.
Hopefully I don’t need to explain to my friends on the right the visceral mortification most of us feel when we see this text. For those whose sense of shame was cauterized long ago, let me at least show you why he is wrong on the merits. (For brevity, I will ignore the childish writing, punctuation errors, and bizarre use of capitalization.)
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize…” Even if not receiving the prize he so obsessively wanted were a valid reason to threaten our allies and escalate his damaging trade war, the Norwegian government does not award the Nobel Prize any more than the government of Denmark does. So he is threatening the wrong people.
“…for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS…” He has not stopped eight wars, and the one war he repeatedly bragged he would end within 24 hours of taking office is still raging.
“…I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace…but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.” Don’t miss what he reveals here: he only “felt an obligation” to think “purely of Peace” while there was something in it for him: his hope of winning the Nobel. And only now that they have denied him his prize will he “now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
He has unintentionally but clearly laid out what has been obvious for years: his top priority is Donald Trump’s ego. America—and peace in the West—come second.
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China…” On their own, no. Fortunately, Denmark is part of the most powerful alliance in the history of the world, so Greenland is better protected than almost any nation in the annals of human civilization.
“…and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago…” This document on his own State Department website details how 110 years ago the United States confirmed Danish ownership of Greenland—an easy decision for President Woodrow Wilson considering that Denmark had already been running Greeland for centuries. This naked ignorance paraded before other world leaders is humiliating to America.
“…but we had boats landing there, also.” Denmark was colonizing Greenland before the United States existed. Again, humiliating, arrogant ignorance.
“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.” I won’t pretend to know what he thinks he’s done for NATO; he’s been publicly antagonistic toward the alliance since 1987. As for NATO doing something for the US, Article 5, our collective defense agreement, has been invoked exactly one time in the 77 years since its founding: September 11, 2001. NATO helped defend our airspace after we were attacked, and assisted us in Afghanistan for years afterward. It takes a special kind of gall to imply NATO has done nothing for us when we are the only nation who has ever called for its aid.
“The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.” Gosh, how did we survive the Cold War without complete and total control of Greenland? It’s simple: Denmark is our friend and ally. A pact with Denmark, in effect since 1951, gives us the right to build and maintain military bases in Greenland—one of which is still there and manned today. (This pact is, incidentally, another document wherein the US explicitly affirms Danish sovereignty in Greenland.) If the President wants more US troops and weaponry in Greenland, there is no barrier to achieving that aim—at least there wasn’t until he began threatening to take the territory by force. Now, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK have sent small contingents to the island to deter their mutual ally, the United States, from forcibly taking over.
To call this unprecedented is to severely understate the situation.
This President is threatening our allies, and for no good reason. In his own words, when asked why ownership of Greenland is important (when we already have all the access we could want), he said, “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success.” Following up on this weird-to-say-the-least response, a White House correspondent asked, “Psychologically important to you or to the United States?”
Would you like to take a guess?
“Psychologically important for me.”
So, we can see clearly from the President’s own words and actions that he is lashing out against our longtime allies because he didn’t win a prize. He is making America into a simultaneous bully and laughingstock because he is ignorant of our own history and unwilling to learn. He is risking the collapse of the most powerful alliance in world history because of his psychological need to wrest ownership of territory away from a sovereign nation.
This is mad king behavior. While it is humiliating, more importantly, it’s dangerous, for us and for the world.
What can we do?
Congress has the power to stop this, either with legislation or impeachment and removal. Contact your Representative and Senators, especially if they’re Republicans. This should be an issue they are subject to pressure on because it’s so overwhelmingly unpopular: 86% of Americans oppose using military force to acquire Greenland, and even among self-identified Republicans, half oppose attempting to take control of the island with or without military force.
Tomorrow, January 20, there is a nationwide walkout planned. To take part, at 2:00, wherever you are, get up, walk out, and go to your representative’s office to demand the removal of this dangerously unhinged president.
Wilderness Dispatch 