Americans are trying to figure out President Trump’s goals in Venezuela, but spare a thought this week for Greenland. The President has good strategic instincts about the world’s largest island, so it’s regrettable that his interest is devolving into a self-defeating exercise in U.S. bullying.
“We need Greenland,” Mr. Trump said on Air Force One this weekend. “It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”
The U.S. does need to hedge against future Russian and Chinese inroads in the Danish territory.
Nearby are vital submarine lanes, and the island hosts U.S. missile-defense radars that protect the homeland.
Beneath the ice are reserves of rare-earth minerals. Liberals booed Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton in 2019 when he suggested buying the island, but he had a point.
Yet the operative word was buy — a free agreement among the U.S., our NATO ally Denmark, and Greenland’s 56,000 people.
This week presidential adviser Stephen Miller, in one of his familiar beat-the-press showdowns, declined to rule out military force.
“Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.” A White House statement Tuesday said Mr. Trump is considering several options, including use of the military.
The invasion talk is probably Trumpian bluster to prod a negotiation to buy the island or end up with some other expanded U.S. presence. But even the suggestion of force is damaging America’s interests across the Atlantic.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was candid that “if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything will come to an end,” including NATO. The truth of that statement is what makes military action from Mr. Trump hard to take seriously.
But feuding with friends over Greenland is giving Vladimir Putin another wedge to divide America from Europe to his benefit. That means less U.S. leverage for driving a good and durable Ukraine settlement.
Nothing precludes Mr. Trump from shoring up America’s position on Greenland, including mining to reduce U.S. reliance on China.
A bipartisan statement from U.S. lawmakers Tuesday noted that Denmark has accepted “every request to increase our military presence on the island.”
The U.S. could restore its larger military footprint on Greenland from the Cold War — and perhaps ensure enduring access even if Greenland someday changes its political relationship with Denmark.
Mr. Trump could also continue leveraging U.S. relationships as a force multiplier in the Arctic.
An under-appreciated Trump Administration achievement is a deal last fall to build 11 icebreakers with Finland. The Danes spent 3.2% of their economy on defense last year, up from 1.15% in 2014, so they can contribute.
