My latest piece over at The Spectator discusses the Trump administration’s Greenland policy and explores why it is a good idea hampered by terrible execution. Below is a snippet, but you can read the whole thing here.
A crack has developed in the NATO alliance, but shockingly it has nothing to do with Ukraine. On Wednesday, the Danish foreign minister summoned the American envoy to answer for allegations that US citizens were carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland. According to reports, the men were seeking to incept a Greenlandic liberation movement meant to “pave the way for a US takeover” of the world’s largest island. This controversy comes after months of back-and-forth over the future of the semi-autonomous Danish possession, with the Trump administration desiring American control of Greenland for economic and security purposes. As is becoming fairly commonplace with this president, this is a good idea, but sorely lacks in execution.
Although the men were not named in the Danish media report, other outlets have since made guesses as to their identities. Interestingly enough, the two most-named men both have ties to the Trump administration. One, businessman Tom Dans, was an Arctic advisor during the first Trump term and runs a nonprofit promoting closer ties with Greenland. The other, Drew Horn, was a Republican advisor and now leads a rare earth minerals company. Each have made visits to Greenland since January, when Trump was inaugurated. Both America and Denmark agree that the men in question were acting as private citizens, but Washington has not denied their informal connections to the administration nor disavowed their purported mission. Instead, the president’s press team has told the Danes to “calm down” and not overreact to the incident.
This controversy comes after months of back-and-forth over the future of the semi-autonomous Danish possession, with the Trump administration desiring American control of Greenland for economic and security purposes. As is becoming fairly commonplace with this president, this is a good idea, but sorely lacks in execution.