Opinion : Trump Greenland Fiasco Echoes a Dangerous History

moabsunnews.com · Feb 18, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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It is sometimes forgotten that Donald Trump's obsession with acquiring Greenland goes back to his first term in office. At that time, he proposed a trade: In exchange for Greenland, we would cede Puerto Rico to Denmark. His rationale was that the hurricane-prone Caribbean island was costing the US too much in disaster aid. President Trump himself visited Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, tossing rolls of paper towels into the assembled crowd. Last week, while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the president backed off from his reckless, ill-conceived scheme to annex Greenland, whether by purchase or by force, and heedless of the wishes of its 60,000 citizens, whom he treated as geopolitical pawns. What would have happened if he had not done so? Tariff wars would have been just the beginning. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — which was largely responsible for 80 years of unprecedented peace and prosperity world-wide — would have been broken beyond repair. American prestige would have cratered as other countries came to believe we no longer could be trusted to live up to our self-declared principles and commitments. Given that the USA relies as much on Europe as it does on China to loan us badly-needed money to finance our national debt, the bond market here would have tanked. The collapse of not only the American but perhaps the global economy might have ensued. Meanwhile, the US would have had to assume responsibility for supporting and subsidizing Greenland, a responsibility that Denmark historically has borne. Although Trump (who confused Greenland with Iceland three times during his Davos address) promised that Greenland would yield the US a bonanza in rare earth minerals, he neglected to take into account expert warnings that the island's climate and terrain make it arguably the most difficult place on earth for prospecting, mining, and refining ore. What actually did happen in the wake of Trump's failed gambit in Greenland was bad enough. The Danes, among others, have already started to divest themselves of US treasury bills, to which both the bond and stock markets reacted negatively. Our erstwhile European allies now regard the US as unstable and unreliable, and are therefore making overtures to other trading partners, most notably China. The Canadian government is doing the same. A parallel logic prevails in the military realm. Unable to count on the USA to fulfill its treaty obligations, long-time friends like Germany and even Canada may conclude that they can't rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for deterrence, and therefore need to develop atomic weapons of their own. Especially if Japan and Korea follow suit, the world could well be headed toward a terrifying arms race. To justify his reckless demands, President Trump claimed that our NATO allies would not live up to their treaty obligation to come to our aid if we were attacked. This is demonstrably false. In the aftermath of 9/11, every NATO country lent us support. During the 1990-91 Gulf War, the 2003 Iraq War, and the conflict in Afghanistan, member states sent tens of thousands of active-duty troops to fight alongside our own. In fact, the Afghanistan mission was NATO-led, and on a per capita basis both Denmark and the United Kingdom suffered higher casualty rates there than we did. Some pundits have suggested that Trump may have intended his designs on Greenland to distract Americans from the Epstein scandal, the affordability crisis, and the cruel and lawless actions of ICE agents, not to mention his own cratering support in opinion polls. If so, such distractions have carried an unacceptable price tag. Sandy Hinchman holds a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. After serving almost 35 years as a professor at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, where she taught political philosophy, she retired to Moab with her husband Lew in 2008. Submitted January 24, 2026. Appreciate the coverage? Help keep local news alive.Chip in to support the Moab Sun News.