Andrew Stuttaford of National Review Online highlights President Donald Trump’s bizarre goal of controlling Greenland.
Via The Independent, the wording of a text sent by President Trump to the Norwegian prime minister:
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
Well . . .
There is a lot to unpack in that text, but I will just confine myself to Denmark’s right to the island, which has been recognized by the U.S. for quite a while. For example, a declaration attached to the treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy the (then) Danish West Indies in 1917 reads as follows:
“In proceeding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cession of the Danish West-Indian Islands to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.”
The 1951 defense agreement between the U.S. and Denmark recognizes Danish sovereignty both explicitly and implicitly.
