Let me start by quoting, in full, a letter that the president of the USA 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 meant 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 assume purely of Peace, though it can at all times be predominant, however can now take into consideration what is sweet and correct for the USA of America. Denmark can not shield that land from Russia or China, and why have they got a “proper of possession” anyway? There are not 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 completed extra for NATO than any particular person since its founding, and now, NATO ought to do one thing for the USA. The World isn’t safe except we have now Full and Whole Management of Greenland. Thanks! President DJT
One might observe many issues about this doc. One is the infantile grammar, together with the unusual capitalizations (“Full and Whole 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 the USA. In his second time period, Trump has completed 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 total message: Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a distinct actuality, one during which neither grammar nor historical past nor the conventional guidelines of human interplay now have an effect on him. Additionally, he actually is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive in regards to the Nobel Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian authorities and definitely not the Danish authorities, determines the winner of that prize. But Trump not solely blames Norway for failing to present 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 conflict. One other is an American army 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 all the politicians, put gangsters in cost, shoot folks on the road for talking Danish, change college curricula, and perform a pretend referendum to rubber-stamp the conquest. Is that the American plan too? If not, then what’s it? This is able to not be the occupation of Iraq, which was troublesome sufficient. U.S. troops would wish to pressure Greenlanders, residents of a treaty ally, to grow to be American in opposition to their will.
For the previous 12 months, American allies around the globe have tried very arduous to discover a concept that explains Trump’s conduct. Isolationism, neo-imperialismand patrimonialism are all phrases which were thrown round. However ultimately, 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 babies 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 might discover methods to cease him, as some did in his first time period, however they appear too corrupt or too power-hungry to attempt. That leaves Republicans in Congress because the final barrier. They owe it to the American folks, and to the world, to cease Trump from performing out his fantasy in Greenland and doing everlasting harm to American pursuits. He’s liable to alienating pals in not solely Europe but additionally 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, at the moment are 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’s the time.
