The BBC on the subject.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnLgHvFwzL8
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News & politics
Greenland Update
(343 Posts)Telegraph today
Trump’s plan to make Greenlanders an offer they can’t refuse
Sounds more than a little ominous?
Really interesting article covering two things
1) Trumps complete “lie” about Russian and China having ships in Greenland water, not ONE local report from Greenland, across many sources, about spitting even ONE ship.
2) Very very interesting info around Greenland’s minerals. A good read if you have time, link below.
It raises yet again how gun-ho Trump is about getting what he wants, lying, cheating and breaking all kinds of protocol because man-child Trump chooses.
My heart goes out to Greenlanders, who appear very content with Denmark and both Greenland and Denmark have cooperated fully with USA re security since the 1950’s.
My view? Come on Europe, pool ALL your resources and stop this idiot before he ruins our entire world with his greed.
What do you think?
Just in case link doesn’t work, salient points from the article are below, warning, it’s long!
.*Trump’s plan to make Greenlanders an offer they can’t refuse
US proposals to buy the island have been met with protests and alarm by locals
Eir Nolsøe is Economics Correspondent at The Telegraph covering stories on government tax and spend, the labour market and monetary policy.
When Aka Binzer-Johnsen prepared her two daughters for school and nursery after the holidays at the start of January, she felt compelled to tell them about Donald Trump. “I asked my daughters if they could remember from last year that Trump really wants our country,” she says. “I tried to explain in a child-friendly way that this is happening again, and if they hear anything, that’s why.”
The 38-year-old mother, her husband Uju and their daughters, aged five and seven, live on the outskirts of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
Home to just 20,000 people, life in the quiet town with colourful wooden houses normally feels safe and far removed from the world’s troubles.
But the US president’s threats to seize Greenland have brought a crisis to Nuuk’s doorstep. “This was always like a safe little bubble,” says Binzer-Johnsen, who is a project manager for a charity. “That’s what we are used to from growing up here.”
She adds: “Everything has changed so fast. People are very scared, and emotions are heightened. I’ve felt really bad about what is going on. I’ve had sleepless nights.
“I have so many questions, wondering what we are going to do. If I want to protect my family, is this the time to act?
“I constantly feel ready to flee and leave, just for a period. But at the same time, we can’t just stop living. Everything we’ve invested in is here: our dreams and our life.”
Such considerations are now weighing on the minds of many Greenlanders, regardless of the territory’s status as a Nato member and having served as an American ally for more than 80 years.
The fate of the world’s largest island has been thrust back into the spotlight this month following Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president.
Buoyed by his coup in Latin America, Trump has now set his sights on Greenland, the sparsely populated autonomous Danish territory.
“We need Greenland from a national security situation,” Mr Trump said last week, adding that he may have to choose between preserving Nato or expanding America’s influence in the western hemisphere.
“It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
The threats have sent alarm bells ringing in Copenhagen and Brussels, prompting stunned European leaders to issue a joint statement saying they will “not stop defending” Greenland.
However, it should not come as a surprise.
The US president has long been fascinated by Greenland, which has been part of the Danish kingdom for hundreds of years, like the Faroe Islands.
Trump first proposed buying the island during his first term in 2019, comparing it to “a large real estate deal”.
Seven years later, he has returned to the issue, alternating between threats of military force and offers to make Greenlanders rich.
All in all, last week’s events suggest the US president may be determined to make Greenlanders an offer they can’t refuse.
However, in Nuuk, the mood is one of anger and defiance.
“He can go f--- himself,” is the verdict from a local pensioner.
So why has the world’s most powerful man decided that, come hell or high water, he must own the world’s largest island?
“The Arctic is the crossroads of the world,” says Dwayne Menezes, founder of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative in London.
“Greenland is strategically located along the shortest air and sea routes between three continents: North America, Europe and Asia.”
The country’s position means it would offer the shortest route for ballistic missiles targeting North America, and it is key to surveillance in the Arctic.
“It also is a vast resource frontier, all of which is becoming increasingly strategically important for the US, but also increasingly accessible because of climate change,” Menezes adds.
The US has cooperated with Greenland and Denmark on national security since the Second World War.
Americans operate the island’s only military base. Some 150 US soldiers staff the Pituffik Space Base on the north-west coast, down from 6,000 during the Cold War.
This is part of a defence agreement that has been in place between the US and Denmark since 1951.
“The US has had such critical infrastructure in Greenland since the Second World War, through the Cold War, and more recently, even now, it plays a very, very important role for the Space Force,” Menezes says.
Experts and locals are also sceptical of US claims that the island’s waters are full of ships from hostile states that pose a threat.
“If there are so many Chinese and Russian ships here, then how can it be that only Donald Trump has seen them?” says Frans Heilmann, the boss of fishing company Sigguk.
Heilmann adds: “All of Greenland is full of fishing trawlers. I have not heard of a single trawler that has spotted either a Russian or Chinese vessel near our coasts.
“I am not sure he [Trump] has much of a conscience. He says Greenland’s strategic position means he needs us for national security.
“But he already has that. That argument is worthless. He’s just after the minerals. He’s a trophy hunter.”
The suspicion that Trump’s interest in Greenland is its vast deposits of rare earths is widespread.
“It’s not really any more about wanting to get Greenland because of security reasons, but coming up with security reasons to get Greenland,” says Menezes.*
The island is rich in resources ranging from uranium that can be used to power nuclear plants to obscure minerals critical for modern-day electronics.*
apple.news/ADUBx4ZdcRbmK5xmG_p4znw
I imagine this level of bully boy board room tactics might have garnered the results Trump wanted when a businessman, though to be honest he was never very successful in business so perhaps not.
I just wonder if his supporters are all buying shares in the rich resources Trump wants when he takes Greenland. If not, and am guessing not, I really can’t apply logic to their mindset.
Are the leaders of the other European countries involved with Greenland also broadcasting to their people? A demonstration of solidary and an explanation of their motivation at this time would do a lot of good.
ronib
Why do I keep harkening back to the Goon Shows?
Are there no responsible leaders left?
Have you watched Keir Starmer's broadcast this morning? It is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo0KC_McKJM Please do - though I daresay you will hear something in it that you don't agree with. I hope Trump was watching.
It gives a clear picture of the rightrope that responsible leaders walk, between their principles and their wish to get the best outcome for the people they lead.
Why do I keep harkening back to the Goon Shows?
Are there no responsible leaders left?
Fallingstar
Not sure why Trump keeps threatening crippling tariffs when he had to back down last time when it was clear that said tariffs would also impact the US economy.
A lot of people (not only in the US) still think that tariffs are paid by the exporters, not by the importers. Trump certainly does, that is how he speaks of them. He doesn't understand "balance of trade" either. As a soundbite it is aimed to be a bit of sabre-rattling, the real meaning doesn't matter.
Oreo
Beth Rigby and others did ask straight questions but you can’t expect any PM to be answering that unless it actually happens.
Tbh there wouldn’t be anything we or NATO could do about it.
A leader doesn't reveal all his planned defence strategy and tactics to the potential invader in advance of the actual attack.
I have no doubt that the small band of German soldiers who have just left Greenland after just a few days included tactical and strategic experts who liaised with their opposite Greenland/Danish numbers and discussed how to respond to any possible attack. They were not a bunch of squaddies there to repel boarders on their own. (correct spelling, I don't mean borders/boundaries)
Similar small groups will be visiting from other Nato countries.
MaizieD
This has been endlessly posted and reposted on BlueSky this morning.
It is genuine.
It is disturbing.
I hope that those who suggest that this affair will blow over when Trump has something else to think about are correct.
^President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway? There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT^
He is mistaken. NATO did do something for the US - they responded to their call after 9/11. The US is the only NATO member so far to call on other members when they needed help, and they received that backup.
Incidentally, always working toward peace and trying to avoid war is something that real leaders do automatically. It is not an act that they only perform if they get a golden prize above all other peaceloving leaders for it. That man is not well.
Because he thinks bully boy tactics will work every time, even when there's evidence to the contrary. His tariff threat should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
Not sure why Trump keeps threatening crippling tariffs when he had to back down last time when it was clear that said tariffs would also impact the US economy.
Beth Rigby and others did ask straight questions but you can’t expect any PM to be answering that unless it actually happens.
Tbh there wouldn’t be anything we or NATO could do about it.
I think it’s relevant rather than random, and hope Trump does u turn this time.
KS can make our position clear without rambling on about America being an ally when it's supposed to be a member of and ally to all NATO members.
He could also have done without referring to Trump and the so called peace negotiations which have made the situation worse for Ukraine and Gaza. The juxtaposition of this when addressing the nation because Trump is saying he will take Greenland whether or not Greenland wishes to become a part of the USA, cannot be over stated.
I wish you could have been there to put your question WW but I doubt you'd have been given a straight answer.
Sarnia
Trump and Starmer. A couple of U-turners there.
Bit random😊
My question to Starmer would be -
You have outlined the principle that the decision over Greenland is for Greenland and Denmark alone.
So given this, what will the U.K. do if in the event Trump simply walks into Greenland?
Trump and Starmer. A couple of U-turners there.
He has to balance out what’s best for us, any PM would.It’s no good being all outraged on behalf of Greenland.
He can make our position clear to Trump as others are doing and stay calm.
Whitewavemark2
Yes I saw that! I decided it was false, but if it is real, 😮😮
It was the subject of /one of the questions put to KS just now 🤷♀️
I’m wondering if Starmer is doing a Neville Chamberlain ie. buying time for as long as possible to give Europe time to get its act together.
A short note: In 1936 the government and military forces met and after some time agreed that air defences were crucial if there was to be a war. It’s been suggested by historians that Chamberlain deliberately bargained with Hitler to delay any attack on the UK whilst it got its act together.
I’m sorry that I can’t provide a link but I remember this document and historical debate clearly.
Whitewavemark2
Yes I saw that! I decided it was false, but if it is real, 😮😮
The man has an ego the size of a (large) country. He thinks he's "It" with bells on. So nothing said about him would surprise me by no....and yet I can still think of people who think he's wonderful. Goodness only knows how they do - especially the friend of mine that is half-Danish.
One of the reasons that I voted for Starmer was that I thought that his steady-ness and seriousness would stand us in good stead in the event of a serious event.
Now my opinion will be tested I think.
David49
"We have enough problems caused by our own government and if Trump does invade Greenland then our armed forces will go to the aid of them ."
Thats nonsense talk, NOBODY is hoing to fight the US over Greenland, they are not even going to impose sanctions. The reality is that we need the US more than they need us, their ultimate threat is to pull out of NATO, just think, how do we defend Europe without US cooperation.
Get real if the US does decide to take over Greenland there is nothing we can do except protest.
No comparison with Falklands or Gibraltar they both want to remain British.
I totally agree David49 and I also agree that if Greenland were ever going to get independence then that would be problematic, as how could they manage without all the monetary help they receive and if they needed money could sell out to Russia or China.
I agree with you Whitewavemark2 in that I thought what Starmer said makes sense.
The differences we have as a country about Greenland don’t matter as much as our continued unity with the US.Pragmatism rules the day.
Well, I am pretty critical of Starmer, but I do think that he has steered the U.K. quite well so far regarding tariffs etc,
Let’s see what happens.
I think that listening to Starmer it is clear that he recognises the seriousness of the issue, but at the same time he is keen to protect our trade with the USA
Saying all that I do think that we should definitely draw the line at appeasement. That gets us nowhere.
Well IMO there was too much brown nosing Trump in KS's address, would have been better for a shorter address which focused on Greenland.
I thought I'd be disappointed and I was.
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