Let me start by quoting, in full, a letter that the president of america of America despatched yesterday to the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre. The textual content was forwarded by the White Home Nationwide Safety Council to ambassadors in Washington, and was clearly supposed to be extensively shared. Right here it’s:
Pricey Jonas:
Contemplating your Nation determined to not give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I not really feel an obligation to suppose purely of Peace, though it’s going to at all times be predominant, however can now take into consideration what is sweet and correct for america of America. Denmark can’t shield that land from Russia or China, and why have they got a “proper of possession” anyway? There aren’t any written paperwork, it’s solely a ship that landed there tons of of years in the past, however we had boats touchdown there, additionally. I’ve achieved extra for NATO than any particular person since its founding, and now, NATO ought to do one thing for america. The World is just not safe except we now have Full and Complete Management of Greenland. Thanks! President DJT
One may observe many issues about this doc. One is the infantile grammar, together with the unusual capitalizations (“Full and Complete Management”). One other is the free grasp of historical past. Donald Trump didn’t finish eight wars. Greenland has been Danish territory for hundreds of years. Its residents are Danish residents who vote in Danish elections. There are lots of “written paperwork” establishing Danish sovereignty in Greenland, together with some signed by america. In his second time period, Trump has achieved nothing for NATO—a company that the U.S. created and theoretically leads, and that has solely ever been utilized in protection of American pursuits. If the European members of NATO have begun spending extra on their very own protection (budgets to which the U.S. by no means contributed), that’s due to the risk they really feel from Russia.
But what issues isn’t the particular phrases, however the general message: Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a distinct actuality, one by which neither grammar nor historical past nor the traditional guidelines of human interplay now have an effect on him. Additionally, he actually is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive concerning the Nobel Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian authorities and positively not the Danish authorities, determines the winner of that prize. But Trump no longer solely blames Norway for failing to offer it to him, however is utilizing it as a justification for an invasion of Greenland.
Take into consideration the place that is main. One risk, anticipated this morning by monetary markets, is a dangerous commerce struggle. One other is an American navy occupation of Greenland. Attempt to think about it: The U.S. Marines arrive in Nuuk, the island’s capital. Maybe they kill some Danes; maybe some American troopers die too. After which what? If the invaders had been Russians, they might arrest the entire politicians, put gangsters in cost, shoot folks on the road for talking Danish, change college curricula, and perform a faux referendum to rubber-stamp the conquest. Is that the American plan too? If not, then what’s it? This may not be the occupation of Iraq, which was troublesome sufficient. U.S. troops would want to power Greenlanders, residents of a treaty ally, to change into American in opposition to their will.
For the previous yr, American allies around the globe have tried very arduous to discover a principle that explains Trump’s conduct. Isolationism, neo-imperialism, and patrimonialism are all phrases which have been thrown round. However in the long run, the president himself defeats all makes an attempt to explain a “Trump doctrine.” He’s locked right into a world of his personal, decided to “win” each encounter, whether or not in an imaginary competitors for the Nobel Peace Prize or a protest from the mom of young children objecting to his masked, armed paramilitary in Minneapolis. These contests matter extra to him than any long-term technique. And naturally, the necessity to seem victorious issues far more than Individuals’ prosperity and well-being.
The folks round Trump may discover methods to cease him, as some did in his first time period, however they appear too corrupt or too power-hungry to strive. That leaves Republicans in Congress because the final barrier. They owe it to the American folks, and to the world, to cease Trump from appearing out his fantasy in Greenland and doing everlasting injury to American pursuits. He’s vulnerable to alienating associates in not solely Europe but in addition India, whose chief he additionally snubbed for failing to appoint him for a Nobel Prize, in addition to South Korea, Japan, Australia. Years of cautious diplomacy, billions of {dollars} in commerce, are actually in danger as a result of senators and representatives who know higher have refused to make use of the powers they’ve to dam him. Now could be the time.
