Trump’s Self-Destructive Greenland Gambit

In January, a man attempted to raise an American flag on a flagpole in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. He did not get very far. Locals intervened, the police arrived, and a fine was issued. The would-be flag-raiser turned out to be a German comedian looking for attention. Nuuk’s mayor was not amused. The stunt was “not funny,” she said in a statement.

The episode was a small but telling sign of tensions that had been building for weeks. President Donald Trump had been talking, again, about Greenland. At press conferences, in speeches, and in off-the-cuff remarks, the president insisted that the United States “needs” Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark — and that acquiring it is a matter of national security. “I’d love to make a deal with them,” he told reporters in January. “It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”

About the Author

Shawn Regan

Shawn Regan is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

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In January, a man attempted to raise an American flag on a flagpole in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. He did not get very far. Locals intervened, the police arrived, and a fine was issued. The would-be flag-raiser turned out to be a German comedian looking for attention. Nuuk’s mayor was not amused. The stunt was “not funny,” she said in a statement.

The episode was a small but telling sign of tensions that had been building for weeks. President Donald Trump had been talking, again, about Greenland. At press conferences, in speeches, and in off-the-cuff remarks, the president insisted that the United States “needs” Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark — and that acquiring it is a matter of national security. “I’d love to make a deal with them,” he told reporters in January. “It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”