Nobody Cares About Greenland

[Innula Zenovka]

We could have had expanded bases and economic development just for asking. The income from military spending and mineral rights can help create the conditions for Greenland to declare independence by replacing the Danish subsidy. After all of this bluster we will get exactly what we had a year ago. Only now we have damaged relationships with our closest allies to get right back where we started.

From the Financial Times (Evernote because £wall):

The great Greenland climbdown

There is a strong chance that — within a month — Trump will have moved on from Greenland and will be indulging another obsession or looking for another victim to pick off. But Europeans, Canadians and other American allies will not forget the Greenland episode. It has crystallised many of their fears and resentments about the US.

The reason that Carney’s speech resonated so widely was that it was an explicit acknowledgment that the old order, based on a benign US, has gone. And it was also a call to action that many in Davos found inspiring.

 

[Noodles]

Maybe his new plan is to trade "his" Nobel prize for Greenland.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

PM Carney's Davos speech. Worth listening in full, if you haven't, IMO.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Whenever someone brings up "Without America you'd all be speaking German" I remind them that without France, we'd still be speaking proper English.

You would also have to erase the influence from Latin and the Vikings, so Old Norse, to have "proper English." Whatever this might be then.

The Anglish Times to the rescue!

The Anglish Times

The latest world news written in Anglish, a kind of English without borrowed words.

theanglishtimes.com

 

[detrius]

Whenever someone brings up "Without America you'd all be speaking German" I remind them that without France, we'd still be speaking proper English.

The "Lebensraum Theory" of Nazi Germany and the colonial aspirations of the German Empire were also directly inspired by America's "Manifest Destiny".

So there's a good chance that without America, WW1 and WW2 wouldn't have happened in the first place.

And as Innula pointed out, the USA only entered WW2 when it could no longer stay out of it.

And yes, Trump most likely would have been on the side of the Axis powers (as a cheerleader, not as a combatant).

 

[Veritable Quandry]

You would also have to erase the influence from Latin and the Vikings, so Old Norse, to have "proper English." Whatever this might be then.

The Anglish Times to the rescue!

The Anglish Times

The latest world news written in Anglish, a kind of English without borrowed words.

theanglishtimes.com

I was thinking more about how the French financed the American Revolution and their navy prevented England for landing troops at a critical point.

But that too.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Trump interview: President tells CNBC ‘We have a concept of a deal’ with Greenland



The concept of a deal. Right.

Maybe he'll also explain how he reached an agreement with the Secretary General of NATO about the sovereign territory of one of its members. Maybe the prime minister of Denmark could reach a similar framework of a concept (or vice versa) of a deal for California.

LOL yeah I'm betting he got nothing. He TACO'd because the US stock market started tanking while he was at Davos. I'm guessing that, at most, the NATO SecGen might have just explained to him what the US is already empowered to do or ask for in Greenland and Trump is going to try to spin the explanation as a concession or something.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

LOL yeah I'm betting he got nothing. He TACO'd because the US stock market started tanking while he was at Davos. I'm guessing that, at most, the NATO SecGen might have just explained to him what the US is already empowered to do or ask for in Greenland and Trump is going to try to spin the explanation as a concession or something.

I agree. Quite apart from the fact the secretary general of NATO has no authority to make deals concerning a member's sovereign territory without reference to that member's government -- the Danish prime minister couldn't emerge from a meeting with Rutte and announce they'd struck a deal without reference to the US whereby Puerto Rico now "belongs" to Denmark and expect to be taken seriously -- international agreements take rather longer to negotiate than a single meeting lasting no more than an hour or so.

ETA: Just seen this, which rather supports your suggestion: Analysis: What might Trump and Rutte have agreed on Greenland?

ETA2: Apparently they didn't even discuss sovereignty.

 

[Noodles]

LOL yeah I'm betting he got nothing. He TACO'd because the US stock market started tanking while he was at Davos. I'm guessing that, at most, the NATO SecGen might have just explained to him what the US is already empowered to do or ask for in Greenland and Trump is going to try to spin the explanation as a concession or something.

"I spoke with the leaders of Denmark, very nice people, and made the best bigliest deal, bigger than Louisiana, and they said we could use Greenland for anything we want, and its a bigger deal than anything Crooked Sleepy Joe Biden ever made, and Norway was totally fine in this deal with us using Iceland and no collusion, and no Russian hoax, Joe Biden, hamburder, covfefe"

I dunno, I am terrible at this.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Very good analysis of where this row leaves NATO.

To Greenland and Back

Does NATO carry on as before?

samf.substack.com

Evernote Link

The US remains a formidable power, with unique industrial, financial, technological, energy, and military strengths, and it cannot be easily ignored, even with Trump as president. But its influence is declining. Despite his claims about how much added respect he has earned for his country, in practice close allies have lost respect and are seeking ways of working together in ways that do not involve Washington. Carney’s argument was about much more than Greenland and Trump’s state of mind, and more about the consequences of recent patterns of great power behaviour, including that of the US.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Carney’s argument was about much more than Greenland and Trump’s state of mind, and more about the consequences of recent patterns of great power behaviour, including that of the US.

Yeah, we've been throwing our weight around for decades and the velvet glove was pretty thin even before Trump.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I dunno, I am terrible at this.

Sounded pretty good to me.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Carney’s argument was about much more than Greenland and Trump’s state of mind, and more about the consequences of recent patterns of great power behaviour, including that of the US.

Right, because really the power imbalance here was the only difference. At every level of depth Trump the person and even his circle of handlers and enablers and how they all got him and themselves into power aren't really any different whatsoever from the situations of like Orbán, or Erdoğan. The only difference is that the US's outsized power and influence allows him to inflict unique mayhem.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Right, because really the power imbalance here was the only difference. At every level of depth Trump the person and even his circle of handlers and enablers and how they all got him and themselves into power aren't really any different whatsoever from the situations of like Orbán, or Erdoğan. The only difference is that the US's outsized power and influence allows him to inflict unique mayhem.

NATO allies have known since the 2024 election that the US is no longer a reliable ally, or even a trusted partner. The Greenland debacle has forced everyone to face this and to act accordingly.

Now the US is more seen as a wealthy and powerful nation with whom we have to work and with whom we'd like to enjoy good relations, but so is the PRC, who at the moment seem far more stable and reliable. That's one reason Carney has just returned from Beijing and why Keir Starmer is off there next week. That's the heads of government of what were two of the US' closest allies.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Trump Threatens ‘Big Retaliation’ If Europe Sells U.S. Treasuries

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also downplayed the threat of Danish funds divesting in U.S. Treasury bonds, calling Denmark “irrelevant.”

www.forbes.com

President Donald Trump on Thursday promised “big retaliation” for European countries if they sell U.S. Treasury bonds in response to his threats to impose tariffs on NATO partners resisting his bid to acquire Greenland

Trump made the comments on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, telling Fox Business, “we have all the cards.”

 

[detrius]

LOL yeah I'm betting he got nothing. He TACO'd because the US stock market started tanking while he was at Davos. I'm guessing that, at most, the NATO SecGen might have just explained to him what the US is already empowered to do or ask for in Greenland and Trump is going to try to spin the explanation as a concession or something.

Nope, Trump is completely incapable of acknowledging that the tanking of the stock market was caused by his actions. In his mind, everything bad that happens to him is always the result of an unprovoked attack.

What made him retreat was simply the fact that he was surrounded by people who knew he was full of shit and let him feel it. His brain is mush and he simply adopted the position of the last person he talked to.

Now that he's back in the care of his malign sycophants it's just a matter of time until he starts bleating about annexing Canada and Greenland again.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Now that he's back in the care of his malign sycophants it's just a matter of time until he starts bleating about annexing Canada and Greenland again.

I would be so happy if I lived in a country he couldn't pronounce.

 

[detrius]

I would be so happy if I lived in a country he couldn't pronounce.

Like Türkiye, Deutschland or the VSA?

 

[detrius]

Trump Threatens ‘Big Retaliation’ If Europe Sells U.S. Treasuries

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also downplayed the threat of Danish funds divesting in U.S. Treasury bonds, calling Denmark “irrelevant.”

www.forbes.com

Impotent hand wringing.

The fact that he didn't immediately blurt out "2 million percent tariffs!" or something like that means that he doesn't know how to handle this.

 

[Sheera Khan]

I would be so happy if I lived in a country he couldn't pronounce.

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