Trump's Obsession with Greenland may prove lethal

T⁠⁠his morning, Denmark sent an advance military command to Greenland in preparation for sending yet more Danish forces to the island. Danish lawmakers told my colleague Isaac Stanley-Becker last week that the timing of this deployment is not a coincidence and represents an attempt to create a “credible deterrent” on the island—presumably to the Americans. This afternoon, the foreign ministers of both Denmark and Greenland met with Vice President J. D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, and, clearly, got nowhere: Both ministers reiterated that any solution to Trump’s “concerns” that does not respect the territorial sovereignty of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark is “totally unacceptable.” (The Danish foreign minister called these Denmark’s “red lines” on the matter.)

It's hard to imagine how much of a total turn our relationship with Europe has taken. A lot coming out of the EU has spoken to changes in how the EU and the rest of NATO think of us. It isn't looking good.

I think at the top of last year, a lot of people thought that Trump was going to be fairly reversible. However, it's becoming very clear that's not the case. How could the EU trust us again?

Either by design or accident, members of the American military might end up confronting Danish forces, men and women with whom they have trained for years and may have served in Afghanistan. Someone might be killed. The death of a Greenlander, a Dane, or a member of any other military there as a show of support for Denmark—Sweden has already sent troops to Greenland, and Britain is considering similar moves—would incinerate the NATO alliance. Then the real nightmare begins.