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Greenland and Denmark held protests aginst the U.S.A. and Trump Administration to take over Greenland as NATO ( CANADA, GERMANY, FRANCE, SWEDEN ) sent troops to protect GREENLAND vs. the Trump Administrations threats.
FROM AP:
FROM SENATOR MARK KELLY:
Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in. And now Trump is setting tariffs on our allies, making you pay more to try to get territory we don’t need. The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction. Republicans in Congress need to stand up to Trump.
FROM A MIGHTY GIRL:
76 years ago, we founded NATO together to stop exactly this kind of thing -- powerful countries seizing territory from smaller ones because they felt like it. Now our president threatens you with "the easy way or the hard way" while a Republican senator has to stand on the Senate floor and say "I'm sick of stupid."
To our friends in Denmark and Greenland, the American people haven't lost our minds. Just "Putin's poodle" -- as the European press calls him -- at its helm.
Today, we heard your voices. Across Denmark and Greenland, thousands filled the streets in what one protester called "an unseen level of resentment towards the U.S." In Copenhagen, over 15,000 people marched from City Hall to the U.S. Embassy, waving Danish and Greenlandic flags, wearing red "Make America Go Away" caps, and chanting "Kalaallit Nunaat" -- Greenland's name in its own language. In Nuuk, roughly 5,000 turned out -- nearly 10% of the island's entire population -- holding signs reading "Yankee go home" and "Greenland is not for sale."
The message was unified and unmistakable: we are not for sale, we will not be taken, and we will decide our own future.
For weeks, Trump has been escalating his rhetoric about seizing Greenland, going so far as to openly threaten military action against our NATO allies. Today, he continued his role as bully-in-chief, slapping 10% tariffs on eight of America's closest allies until Denmark agrees to sell Greenland. The tariffs jump to 25% in June. The move provoked immediate fury. French President Emmanuel Macron declared that "no intimidation nor threat will influence us." Sweden's prime minister said flatly: "We will not let ourselves be blackmailed."
Trump's obsession with Greenland has even driven Republicans -- who have spent much of the year in silent lockstep with the president -- to finally speak out. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote on social media that the tariffs were "bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America's allies. It's great for Putin, Xi and other adversaries who want to see NATO divided." He called the push to seize an ally's territory "beyond stupid."
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) went further, calling it "utter buffoonery" and likening it to something Russia would do. "You don't treat allies that way," Bacon said. "You do that with Russia or China, Iran -- but don't treat your best friends like a piece of [excrement]." Bacon warned that if Trump actually invaded Greenland, "it would be the end of his presidency. Most Republicans know this is immoral and wrong. I will stand up against it."
Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell warned from the Senate floor that seizing Greenland would "incinerate" the NATO alliance and called it "an unprecedented act of strategic self-harm."
So what's behind this? With 86% of Americans opposing military action against Greenland according to a new poll released this week, Congress broadly opposed, our closest allies outraged, and the entire enterprise threatening to shatter Western security cooperation -- why is Trump so obsessed?
The Trump administration's stated reason is "national security." But as Tillis pointed out, that argument collapses under scrutiny. "At one point we had 17 military installations in Greenland and they'd be happy to have us back," he said from the Senate floor. "They're not refusing to have us have access to project power into the Arctic. We can do it without taking over a NATO country." You don't have to own territory to have bases there -- we don't own South Korea, Japan, or Germany, but we have massive military presences in all of them. The logic is, as Tillis put it, "silly on stilts."
So what's really driving this? With Trump, it's often impossible to untangle the delusions of grandeur -- a desire to go down in history as some sort of imperialist conqueror -- from the opportunities for grift. But we do know this: according to former National Security Advisor John Bolton, the man who first put the idea of "buying Greenland" into Trump's head was his longtime friend, billionaire Ronald Lauder, the heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune. And as Trump has ramped up his threats, Lauder has quietly been acquiring commercial holdings in Greenland, including stakes in companies pursuing water exports and mineral extraction.
Like so much of Trump's behavior, logic, coherency, and ethical considerations play no discernible role. What we're left with is a president threatening to blow up a 75-year alliance for reasons that benefit his billionaire friends, destabilize Western security, and -- as multiple critics have noted -- hand a massive win to Vladimir Putin.
Fundamentally, it's up to Americans and our representatives in Congress to restrain Trump's erratic impulses, to stand up for the sovereignty of our allies, and to recognize that mutual respect matters.
For a year, Trump and his advisors have tried to pull the U.S. out of the global community -- withdrawing from international agreements and 66 global institutions, slashing 86% of foreign aid that long served as an inexpensive way to build global soft power, creating a void that China and Russia have rushed to fill.
We're weaker for it, and less respected as a nation than at any point in modern history.
Trump's impulsivity, his delusions of grandeur, his malignant narcissism -- it's been poisoning our own politics for over a decade. Now it's poisoning our relationships with the countries that have stood by us through two World Wars, the Cold War, and the War on Terror.
This week, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt traveled to Washington for talks at the White House with JD Vance. Ever Trump's toady, Vance has been harshly critical of Denmark, accusing Copenhagen of "neglect and inaction" and declaring: "You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland." He dismissed European criticism as "bellyaching" and, ironically, characterized Danish pushback as "bullying" -- this from an administration threatening military force against an ally.
Vance's comments elicited outrage across Europe. Denmark's Foreign Minister responded: "We do not appreciate the tone in which this is being delivered. This is not how you speak to close allies." Former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called it "a little bit insulting, to be honest, that we have stood side by side with America for decades."
After their meeting this week, Motzfeldt admitted that "the last days have been tough. Our preparations and the increasing pressure that has been intense. But I want to say, we are strong in the government. The work is to ensure the Greenlandic people in our country can feel safe and live securely. We are using all our strength to achieve this as we continue the work."
Becoming visibly emotional, she continued: "We have been working very hard in our department, even though there are not many of us," her voice breaking. "I would not normally like to say these words, but I will say them: We are very strong. We are doing our utmost. But the last days, naturally... I am getting very emotional. I am overwhelmed." She added that the pressure from the United States had "only gotten stronger."
To Vivian Motzfeldt, to the people of Greenland, to our Danish friends: You should not have to be strong against us.
For 76 years, you have been our partners, our allies, our friends. You fought beside us. You trusted us. And now you are being bullied by the very country that was supposed to have your back. We are sorry.
The American people see what is happening, and overwhelmingly reject it. Trump does not speak for us. He never did. We stand with you.
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To Americans: Now is the time to call on your elected officials to block Trump's imperialistic folly and defend our alliances -- there is an action alert on 5 Calls at https://5calls.org/issue/trump-greenland-military-invasion/
For powerful books for tweens and teens about girls living in real-life oppressive societies throughout history where leaders didn't respect the rule of law, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426
To introduce kids to inspiring female leaders from around the world, we recommend the picture book "Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World" (https://www.amightygirl.com/shaking-things-up) and the illustrated biography "HerStory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook the World" for ages 8 to 13 (https://www.amightygirl.com/herstory)
For children's books about more extraordinary women from around the world, visit our blog post "50 Children's Books About Mighty Girls & Women Around The World" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=33102
To inspire children and teens with the true stories of girls and women who dared to fight for change throughout history, check out our blog post, "Dissent Is Patriotic: 50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364
To read more about Trump's actions against Denmark and Greenland, visit https://www.nytimes.com/.../trump-eu-tariffs-greenland...
To read more about how Ronald Lauder encouraged Trump's imperial ambitions, visit https://www.theguardian.com/.../ronald-lauder-billionaire...
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