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Donald Trump is the worst leader the US can have. At least if the US still hopes to have friends left in the international community. However, Israel is likely to be a friend of the US and Donald Trump. The US President himself wants to be seen as a peacemaker. The Nobel Peace Prize is something he wants intensely. An attack on Venezuela, as we saw recently, and threats to annex Greenland are hardly particularly smart. Donald Trump appears to be the war president.

The consequences for the US

By annexing Greenland, the US will lose its closest allies. NATO has been the backbone of both European and US security since its inception. By going to war against a country in the alliance, the war president will destroy NATO. The consequences will be dramatic, both for Europe and the US.

NATO’s Article 5 has been used once. It was after the terrorist attack on the USA on September 11, 2001. At that time, the US used Article 5, which states that an attack on one country in the alliance is the same as an attack on all. A number of NATO countries loyally participated in the US attempt to catch the terrorists. This included the US invasion of Iraq. One of the countries that participated was Denmark. The country the US now wants to take Greenland from. Denmark was also loyal to the US in the war against Afghanistan. Several Danish soldiers died in both these wars.

Since the war, the USA and the Western European countries have had a common interest in deterring Russia from attack. Another element of the defense alliance is the member countries’ recognition of each other and how the borders between the countries are. Old rivals in Europe such as France, England and Germany have lived together without conflict ever since the end of the Second World War. A stable and democratic Europe has always been in the interests of the US too. But with Donald Trump as president, there is a shift. He’s looking at the opportunity to make money. For him, getting his hands on Venezuela’s oil and Greenland’s likely mineral wealth is more important than maintaining a stable Europe. For the war president, democracy is less important. It’s profit that counts for Trump.

What the war president doesn’t understand

Donald Trump doesn’t understand the consequences of his aggressive policy for both the global community and the US itself. “To annex Greenland would be to give an acceptance to Russia and China that it is perfectly OK for the big powers to take neighboring countries.

China will see an annexation of Greenland as an opportunity to do the same to Taiwan. Russia will feel an acceptance of its protracted war in Ukraine. Russia will also see the opportunity for further expansion. An expansion both towards the former Soviet republics, but also towards Svalbard, for example. The archipelago, which lies far to the north, is important in a strategic picture. There are many similarities between the Norwegian island of Svalbard and Greenland. Both Svalbard and Greenland are likely to have major resources in the form of oil, gas and minerals under the ice. An ice that melts quickly and makes it easier to exploit the natural resources. It is these natural resources that Trump is after. The wartime president is unlikely to give up until the American flag has been raised in Greenland, against the will of the inhabitants.

Sources:

El Pais: A Trump intervention in Greenland would destroy NATO

Reuters: UK, Germany discuss NATO forces in Greenland to calm US threat, Bloomberg News reports

The Guardian: Greenland says it cannot accept US takeover ‘under any circumstances’