This story appeared in The Logoff, a every day publication that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.
Welcome to The Logoff: Hello readers, this has been a breakneck information week. Right here’s one massive story that shouldn’t get misplaced within the shuffle: After Venezuela, President Donald Trump is popping his gaze to Greenland.
What’s Trump attempting to do? Purchase Greenland, any means he can. For now, it looks like Plan A is to attempt to purchase it, which Denmark says is a nonstarter, or maybe to pay Greenland’s residents to secede. However the White Home mentioned this week that the army is “at all times an possibility.”
On Friday, Trump informed reporters that “If we don’t do it the simple means, we’re going to do it the exhausting means.”
What does Trump really need Greenland for? Trump has described buying Greenland as essential for nationwide safety, together with claiming that there are “Russian and Chinese language ships in all places” close to the island.
But it surely’s deceptive to recommend the US would wish to personal the island to shore up safety considerations. Not solely is Denmark a NATO ally, however the US and Denmark have a separate settlement giving the US vital room to scale up its army presence in Greenland if it needs.
That leaves one other rationalization: That is one massive vainness challenge for a president in his final time period in workplace, one who sees himself as a dealmaker and an actual property developer. As Trump put it to the New York Instances this week, it’s “psychologically wanted for fulfillment.”
What’s the large image? As 2026 will get underway, Trump is performing as if he’s more and more unchecked. Venezuela is likely one of the clearest examples to date — and we must always take him significantly when he suggests Greenland may very well be subsequent.
And with that, it’s time to log out…
Congratulations on making it to Friday night! Earlier than all of us log out for the weekend, right here’s my colleague Pratik Pawar on one in all my favourite tales of the previous yr: the success of congestion pricing in New York Metropolis. It’s a comparatively small intervention — a $9 toll for drivers throughout peak hours — that, one yr on, has helped cut back commute occasions, improved highway security, and benefited public transit. I feel that’s value celebrating.
