The saga of President Donald Trump’s bid to acquire Greenland for the U.S. continues with a new chapter entitled “Game of Tariffs.”
In my last report, I noted that a meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, and officials from Greenland and Denmark produced a new U.S.–Danish working group but left the core dispute between the U.S. and their Danish and Greenlandic counterparts unresolved.
Following this development, Trump said that he is considering imposing new tariffs on countries that do not support his push for the U.S. to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said at an unrelated event on rural health care at the White House.His comments leave many questions about what it would mean with recent U.S. trade agreements struck with European allies, particularly those with the United Kingdom and European Union.Trump’s tariff threat comes after European nations have voiced objections to Trump’s repeated messaging about taking over Greenland, either by buying the island territory or by using military force.
Meanwhile, European powers respond by landing their own bannermen on the island. Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland to help strengthen the Arctic island’s security.
The numbers being sent are absolutely astonishing.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 French soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defense Ministry said.Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland, with NATO allies joining them, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers met with White House representatives on Wednesday in Washington to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s intentions to take over the island in order to tap its mineral resources and protect the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Amid the threat of tariffs and new troop deployments, our own legislators are adding to the drama. Ostensibly in a bid to cool the political climate that’s turned frosty during the high-stakes negotiations, a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers met with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Copenhagen.
The 11-member U.S. delegation, led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as well as Danish and Greenlandic parliamentarians.”There’s a lot of rhetoric, but there’s not a lot of reality in the current discussion in Washington,” Coons told reporters following the meetings, saying the lawmakers would seek to “lower the temperature” on returning home.
Of course, these senators absolutely had to go to Copenhagen to send this message on our dime…because there was no way to call, email, or Zoom their thoughts and support! (Sarcasm X 1,000,000).
I would like to note that Special Envoy Jeff Landry has indicated that a deal can be done.
U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland Jeff Landry told Fox News Friday that he believes a deal can be achieved on the U.S. acquiring Greenland and that he plans to visit the island in March.”The president is serious. I think he’s laid the markers down. He’s told Denmark what he’s looking for, and now it’s a matter of having Secretary Rubio and Vice President JD Vance make a deal,” Landry said, according to the Reuters news agency.
How this “Game of Tariffs” plays out next will be worth watching, as Trump’s bid for Greenland moves from dramatic opening moves to the hard grind of deals, deadlines, and diplomatic brinkmanship.
With tariffs rattling the markets, European troops on the ice, grandiose U.S. senators trying to play peacemaker, and Trump’s envoys vowing that a deal is within reach, the next episode in this Arctic saga promises even more intrigue.
Which house will claim the frozen prize, and how far is the President willing to go to make Greenland part of his legacy?
Image by perplexity.ai
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