For better or worse, President-elect Trump is not above trolling his opponents, cautious observers, and even his allies.
This is less a product of any real dictatorial tendencies, than his history as a showman. I remember Trump as a headline generator back in the 1980s. The outlandish public statement has long been one of his standard methods. Again, for better or worse.
Trump recently trolled the government of Panama about the terms by which American shippers utilize the Panama Canal. Now he’s talking about inviting Canada and Greenland to join the United States. (He apparently wants to buy Greenland outright.)
First of all, crazier things have been placed on the table in recent years. From a cultural and economic perspective, a union between the USA and Canada/Greenland makes a lot more sense than Puerto Rico as our 51st state. (Puerto Rican independence, once a cause for Puerto Rican patriots, is long overdue. But I digress.)
That said, neither one is likely to happen. I’ve been to Canada many times. Canadians are a wonderful people, but they have a strong sense of nationhood.
As Americans hoping for the best for Canada, our earnest desire should be that a sensible Conservative Party leader will replace the outgoing Justin Trudeau as prime minister of the Great White North. But Canada as the 51st state? Not going to happen. And besides, Canada has a great national anthem. We would all hate to see that go away.
Greenland is a slightly different situation. Greenland is an overseas North American territory of Denmark, with a population of only 56,000 people.
Greenland gained self-rule in 2009 for most internal matters, while its foreign policy and defense are still managed from Copenhagen. Greenland, through its affiliation with its mother country, has long been within the NATO umbrella.
This was true during the Cold War, too. I can recall meeting at least one American during the 1980s who had been stationed in Greenland as a member of the US military.
Greenland, with its Northern European culture, is still more assimilable to the USA than Puerto Rico. That doesn’t mean it would be a seamless match, or that the Greenlanders would necessarily want that. Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede, who favors full independence from Denmark, has rebuffed Trump’s offers to buy the island nation.
The Prime Minister of Denmark, meanwhile, has issued a carefully worded objection to the US president-elect’s statement. Danish PM Mette Frederiksen wants to avoid antagonizing either Trump or Egede too much, as this could drive them into each other’s arms. But nor does she want to come across as a pushover.
Amid all of this, Donald Trump Jr. made an unofficial visit to Greenland yesterday. No government officials met with him.
The elder Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
As I did with the incoming Biden administration four years ago, I will maintain an open mind in the early days of Trump’s second term. I am not going to declare that the sky is falling before Trump even takes office. But I will articulate certain expectations.
What Americans are most eager for is a return to “normal”. Most of us aren’t asking for utopia. But we would like to believe that we can ignore the news for a few days, and be confident that the world hasn’t gone to hell in the meantime. That hasn’t really been possible since 2020.
The Biden administration promised us normalcy. Instead they brought us open borders, and third grade teachers telling kids they could change their gender. That wasn’t normal, for most of us.
But the idea of America somehow annexing Canada and Greenland? Well, that isn’t exactly normal, either.
If Trump ends the disastrous Russo-Ukrainian War, halts the most egregious examples of “wokeness” in public policy, secures our southern border, and restores our energy independence, he will be a successful president in most Americans’ eyes. He doesn’t need to give us Canada and Greenland, too. And besides, Canada and Greenland aren’t his for the giving.
-ET