Illustration by Camila Garcia
President Trump’s autocratic ambitions are more like government against the people, over the people, and without the people. Was there even a singular person involved in the far-reaching idea to obtain a 1,800-mile distant island besides Trump?
His chutzpah about scoring Greenland is doing a number on international relations and the United States’ image as a successful democracy. The university community, and everyone for that matter, should be concerned for multiple reasons. I fear this aggressive rhetoric gives me more shivers than the mid-semester frigid spell we’ve been having.
Despite the incoming spring and its warm sentiments, the Greenland gambit risks glazing the United States’ global goodwill in permafrost. And unfortunately, countering this won’t be as simple as placing an emergency bat-phone call to Stately Wayne Manor.
The single most reason Trump should think twice about taking Greenland is because the plan reeks of the Third Reich. Even a fourth grader can understand that in five seconds.
My sixth sense tells me sevenfold that commandeering the island, or even suggesting that, puts the United States behind the eight ball. That is why I am obliged to give the whole nine yards in condemning this farce. And that’s a big ten-four.
An eleventh-hour reversal on Trump’s Greenland stance is justified for a dozen reasons; taking the island by force is a violation of international law, which forbids acquiring land without the inhabitants’ agreement. Some 85 percent of Greenlanders disapprove of their territory becoming part of the United States, as a poll conducted on Jan. 29 found (Verian Group).
The 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement recognizes Danish sovereignty over the island. Appropriating Greenland jeopardizes legal framework we employ to preserve our global alliances. The administration’s quest of copping the land undermines NATO’s Article 5’s mutual defense clause, “thou shall not act towards the treaty’s partners as adversaries”. Doing so would be a cardinal sin, with hellish repercussions that no Act of Contrition could amend.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg that makes the Greenland policy a titanic mistake.
A fractured rapport between the United States and NATO risks emboldening Russia and China’s arctic area involvement. The Pentagon currently has a military presence in Greenland because of The Defense Of Greenland Agreement. The agreement automatically gives Washington the authority to send additional troops, but only if an outside military hazard looms.
In a move that would abuse this condition, President Trump would claim it must garner Greenland to protect it. This rationale, being as far as it can from rationality, is on thin ice.
The result of all this? Greenland becoming an American possession would create monumental responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities will definitely be burdened onto us, the citizens. Responsibilities but really, more like liabilities. None of which we asked for.
The United States will have to replace the nine-digit dollar annual lump sum Denmark gives to the tax-base lacking island. Remember, someone has to pay for education, healthcare, essential services and administrative costs, on top of defense. Establishing and maintaining Greenland would become a money sucking fjord that America cannot afford, given its $38.5 trillion dollar national debt.
Economically-speaking, Greenland is not exactly a promising place to rock and roll, save for its calving glaciers. Accessing its rich minerals requires billions of dollars in infrastructure investments for ports, mining rigs and housing for the imported labor.
The island only has 56,000 people, with very limited manufacturing of its own and perennially-frozen ground making construction of any kind challenging. As such, the plan of profiting off the island’s mineral deposits will not go platinum anytime soon.
At the end of the day, the Trump administration’s sense of entitlement for Greenland is outrageous and also irrespective. University students, including Red Hawk Country, need to go to red alert. Let’s speak out against this, whether online to our representatives or in line at the Student Center cafeteria.
I believe Trump’s cold, continued pursuit of Greenland puts the United States in hot water. This will undoubtedly provoke an outburst with Europe, NATO and Russia, bringing multiple nations to the brink, including ours.
America does not need additional wear-and-tear on our worldly image. Foreign countries already think less of us due to the president’s imperial antics. Such behavior only continues making the Trump administration into “the rump administration”. A word for the wise, with the mid-term elections approaching soon.
These decisions cost more than pocket-change. The use of tariffs as coercion on non-trade matters is a diplomatic killer. In no time at all, it can trigger inflation, especially if a multi-nation tariff war ensues. No one or nothing is immune to inflation, college tuition being no exception.
Besides impacting our wealth, stoppages in our health and research is possible. American scientists battling for resources at home are now fighting for foreign fronts.
Did you know that more than 200 scientists signed an e-letter condemning Trump’s efforts to own Greenland? Continued research is dependent on the Greenlanders’ good graces and the “capture or bust” crusade only congeals that rapport like an arctic ice pack. It is hard to collect data on climate change in an unwelcoming climate (and I’m not just talking about the weather).
It is incumbent for students, and every American, to stand up to Trump’s tyrannical take on Greenland. This imbroglio has revealed the real meaning of the MAGA slogan: “Make America Grate Again.” Obviously, this refers to policies whose only accomplishment was to grate on everyone’s peace of mind.
So, let’s step up to plate and truly make America great again. We must jump ship this initiative that will only result in tanking our wallets, our place on the world stage and the island of Kalaallit Nunaat.
