One of the challenges of Donald Trump’s tendency to say bizarre and implausible things is that it can be difficult to tell when it’s a distraction and when it’s serious. Unfortunately for Denmark, it appears that Trump’s obsession with taking back Greenland appears to be the latter. According to a Financial Times reportA call between Trump and Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen went sideways, and now the Danes are panicking.
The story goes that Trump and Frederiksen spoke on the phone last week for about 45 minutes in what must have been a bit of a sentiment between the two parties, given Trump’s very public statement that he would like to take Greenland out of his hands. from Denmark. There apparently weren’t many pleasantries exchanged before Trump got Aggro.
While Frederiksen reportedly expressed a willingness to cooperate with America, potentially allowing the U.S. Installation of military bases And determine the wealth of the island’s mineral reserves, which was not enough for Trump. He wants to buy Greenland and would not be willing to move. “He was very firm. It was a cold shower,” a European official told the Financial Times. “Before, it was difficult to take him seriously. But I think it’s serious and potentially very dangerous. »
So it’s not great. Officials described the Danish government as being in “crisis mode” after the call and said they were “completely panicked by this.” Denmark, which is a NATO member alongside the United States, is now staring down the barrel of potential tariffs that would seek to inflict damage on the country’s economy until they are ready to abandon Greenland .
They are right to be worried. Speak US Department of StateAmerica is Denmark’s largest export market and businesses between the two account for almost 80,000 jobs for Danes. So there’s quite a bit of opportunity for Trump to apply pressure, and he would have sent some of the most annoying people possible to negotiate. Ken Howery, a former member of the Paypal Mafia alongside Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, is said to America’s Point PersonSenate approval pending. And there’s another Thiel Ghoul, Dryden Brown, who seems ready to jump at the chance to Transform Greenland into Techno-utopiawhether they like it or not.
For what it’s worth, they don’t want it. Greenland isn’t exactly thrilled about being treated like a political football. While the island is home to just 57,000 people, it has its own autonomous government and its leader, Múte B. Egede, has said they are Not interested in becoming US owned. So far, it hasn’t really seemed to factor into the whole conversation. Instead, Trump and company look beyond actual people and think entirely about exploiting the land.