Key Points – President Trump’s interest in the US acquiring Greenland persists into his second term, recently stating on “Meet the Press” that Greenland is needed for national security and refusing to rule out force, though calling it “highly unlikely.”
-Former National Security Advisor John Bolton decried the idea of military action as grounds for impeachment, despite agreeing on Greenland’s strategic importance.
-Meanwhile, reports suggest the administration’s actual plan focuses on persuasion, potentially offering Greenlanders financial incentives funded by resource extraction and leveraging existing pro-independence sentiment, rather than seriously considering military options to acquire the Danish territory.
How Trump Could Start an Impeachment Crisis
U.S. President Donald Trump often mused during his first term about wanting Greenland to become part of the United States. In his second term, he has seemingly taken the idea more seriously, sending his son Don Jr. and Vice President Pence to the island on different occasions.
On Meet the Press last weekend, the president talked more about Greenland, including refusing to rule out taking the island by force.
“Something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest. We need that for national and international security,” Trump told Kristen Welker in the interview. “I think it’s highly unlikely.”
“I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything,” Trump added. “No, not there.”
An actual war to take over Greenland would appear to go against Trump’s long-stated aversion towards getting involved in military adventures abroad.
And according to one former Trump ally, one with a well-earned reputation as a hawk, pursuing such an invasion could lead to impeachment.
Bolton vs Trump
John Bolton served as national security adviser in Trump’s first term, after previously serving in the George W. Bush administration in different roles. He broke with Trump during the first presidency and has emerged as a frequent critic of his former boss.
Appearing on MSNBC this week, Bolton attacked the Greenland plans.
“It’s not going to happen. If it did, it would provoke an impeachment crisis almost immediately. Donald Trump very often gets about 10% of something right and then just makes a mess out of the rest of it,” Bolton said in the MSNBC appearance. He agreed with the idea that Greenland is important to the security of the United States, noting that Secretary of State William Seward, in 1868, tried to buy Greenland; Seward had purchased Alaska the previous year.
But Bolton, who The Guardian once called “the man driving the US towards war … any war,” was strongly opposed to the idea of any type of military conquest of Greenland.
He has said in the past that he would support Greenland becoming an American territory or commonwealth, although he has been critical of Trump for ruining the chances of that happening by not approaching Danish leaders first. He has also raised the possibility of Greenland becoming independent, and also hopefully joining NATO. Although, as Denmark is a NATO member, Greenland is technically already part of the alliance.
“I do think if we could just get back on an even keel here and stop thinking about Trump casinos in the capital of Greenland, it would be a lot easier to get things accomplished,” Bolton told NPR in February.
Other Ways to “Get” Greenland
In April, the New York Times wrote about some of the Trump Administration’s ideas in relation to the fate of Greenland.
The White House is working on “a formal plan to acquire the Arctic island from Denmark,” and the plan “mobilizes several cabinet departments,” intending to acquire Greenland.
“Despite Mr. Trump’s allusions to the possible use of force, the deliberations led by the security council never seriously considered military options,” one administrative official told the Times.
The goal, instead, is to persuade Greenland’s population that they are better off becoming part of the United States. The campaign includes social media messaging, advertising, and “an unlikely appeal to Greenlanders’ shared heritage with the native Inuit people of Alaska, nearly 2,500 miles away.”
A political party in Greenland that favors independence and closer ties to the United States got about a fourth of the vote in the island’s most recent election, the Times reported.
Another proposal is for the U.S. to offer each resident of Greenland an annual payment of $10,000, although using taxpayer money for such things would likely serve as a difficult political sell, although the idea is to offset that cost with “the extraction of Greenland’s natural resources.”
About the Author:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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