Not The Expansionism of Divine Destiny

"So you have to ask yourself: How are we going to solve that problem, solve our own national security?"

"If that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do, because he doesn't care about what the Europeans scream at us."

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance

 

"The U.S. has a vested security interest in the Arctic region and it should not be a surprise the National Security Adviser and Secretary of Energy are visiting a U.S. Space Base to get first-hand briefings from our service members on the ground."

Brian Hughes, spokesman, National Security Council

 

"[The visit of] the wife of the United States vice-president and the United States president's highest security adviser cannot be seen only as a private visit."

"We can already see now,  how big a mess it's caused."

"[If allied countries] do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase."

"[Greenland's allies should show support]; the only purpose [of a trip by Waltz is] a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood."

"We have been treated unacceptably."

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede

Demonstrators protested at the United States consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, earlier this month. Credit...Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix Foto, via Associated Press

Second lady Usha Vance, it appears, is preparing to travel to the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland even as her husband, the American vice-president, ratchets up U.S. security and "territorial" interests in the Arctic island the new Trump administration has well-ventilated designs on acquiring. The prime minister of Greenland has responded by warning of "American aggression", lamenting a "mess" the upcoming visit has caused, even as JD Vance accused Denmark of "not doing its job" and "not being a good ally".

 

Presumably, a "good ally" would fall into U.S. arms, swooning of its aspiration to become part of the United States. Denmark, for which Greenland has historically been a protectorate, even though Greenlanders themselves have an understandable preference for total sovereignty -- separation and independence from Denmark -- or any other country with designs on the largest island on Earth which the indigenous population considers their very own ancestral gift to themselves, anxious to be shed of the avarice of other countries.

 

The Trump administration may have inadvertently overlooked that Denmark, completely resistant to American overtures to 'sell' Greenland, is, of course, a member of NATO, as is the United States. Member-nations all submit to the leading tenet of membership, that all members are obligated to ensure the security of other members. 

 

Greenlandic news outlet Sermitsiaq posted photos of two U.S. Hercules workhorse military aircraft on the tarmac in Nuuk, the capital, disgorging four bulletproof vehicles awaiting the arrival of the American elite scheduled to visit, and not by invitation. National security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are scheduled to travel to Greenland, along with "the wife of the United States vice-president". 

 

During his first term in office, President Trump had mused over buying Greenland, despite Denmark responding that it wasn't for sale. Since his return to the White House, Mr. Tramp repeatedly states that the U.S. will control Greenland, insisting that it is a requirement for strategic national security purposes, and certainly not because America is fulfilling her divine destiny by expansionism. 

A Greenlandic member of parliament told POLITICO a protest was planned for Vance’s arrival. | Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

"When foreign dignitaries travel to our country on what are called private visits, it rightly causes concern."

"There is no reason to panic. But there is good reason to stand together and to demand respect."

"I do. And I will continue to do so."

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Demokraatit, next Greenlandic leader

 

"A lot people from Greenland [would] like to see something happen with respect to their being properly protected and properly taken care of."

"They're calling us. We're not calling them."

"People from Greenland are asking us to go there. [And] some officials [were among those doing so."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump