I almost cannot conceive that it would happen.
However, if it does, the EU would have to force all US military personnel stationed on the bases across the EU to leave the region.
We could very well end up in a situation where we have the US and Russia working together to destabilize the EU, perhaps European leaders fear this and will let Greenland go.
And they should also consider all equipment, munition and weapons stored at those facilities, including the B61 nukes, null and void. Because their former NATO allies will never ever allow the US to take equipment which could be used against them later on back home.
And if they come with the argument "But that is against international law", they should have thought about that before illegally abducting a foreign president from a country at peace according to those same international laws.
I absolutely can. A decade ago, it would have been inconceivable, but we have gone seriously off the rails since then.
They will claim to annex only the territory of the American bases, then it will be a 10-mile strip around the bases, access to the sea, airspace, the exclusive economic zone, etc.
They can play this game for months and years if we let them. Crimea came under Russian control because it was home to Russia's largest naval base, Simferopol.
I doubt that the US would invade Greenland without first pulling out of Europe (unless they do an all-out attack with also the troops in continental Europe, but that is something i doubt even Trump would do)
Greenland is not part of the EU. Their citizens are Danish citizens, and as such, they are EU citizens. Confused yet? Greenland is a member of NATO - which is actually much more problematic. If Trump invades Greenland, he’s delivered NATO’s head on a silver platter to Vladimir Putin. I’d call that aiding and abetting an enemy - an act of treason - but I’m old school.
Since this is HN, what’s the tech angle?
The EU will restrict or outright ban U.S. Big Tech. Big Tech stocks will tank, and we can expect hundreds of thousands of layoffs as a result. More concerning, EU consumers will boycott as many American products as they can - just as Canadians have done. That means a wave of U.S. business failures and even more job losses. It’s also a big win for China, who will happily fill the gap.
Oh, and all U.S. military personnel and their families? Deported immediately. My crystal ball isn’t telling me what happens to the materiel.
So much winning!
- Greenland and Denmark don't want to sell to the US.
- Denmark is a close ally of the US, and is a NATO member.
If the US decides that the only way to get Greenland is to take it by force, than that's the end of NATO. And it will usher in a new and unprecedented time where Europe will treat the US as hostiles. Whatever values US hopes to extract from Greenland via their natural resources will absolutely pale in comparison to the new economic world that springs up.
And even if by some miniscule chance the US manages convince the majority of Greenlanders that they should break off from Denmark, and sell to the US, they can pretty much set the price. Or it's up to the above point.
Even more important: Trump and his cronies will be long tone until anything would materialize.
This is nothing but Trump wanting to make a huge splash before he fades away. Even if there are billionaires working behind the scene, I fully expect a future non-MAGA president to completely abandon any idea of annexing Greenland, and work on repairing the damage that Trump has done to international relations.
Doing a surgical strike on a known enemy of the US / ally of Russia and China (Maduro and Venezuela) is one thing. Going to war with allies and destroying NATO is a completely different matter.
Obviously, that's no assurance that he won't actually try to do it. But I think he and his inner circle are quite aware that taking it would mostly remove "talk big about taking Greenland" from his rhetorical toolbox. While providing endless opportunities for Trump to look bad, for having "conquered" an undefended, high-maintenance block of ice.
Like having the Nuke is great because nobody is crazy enough to mess with you because you can nuke them, but also you will get nuked. Mutual Assured Destruction and whatnot.
I keep hearing people arguing that Trump is rational and making moves “because he can”. And the US absolutely can do pretty much whatever it wants because of it’s position in the globe. Where’s the limit though? What line crossed would make the world actually turn against the US?
To be honest I have a really hard time accepting that his actions are chess moves. The Venezuela thing is borderline crazy but the US has done it before multiple times.
The Greenland stuff.. THAT would be nuts. That would in fact show he’s not rational and his people can’t hold him back anymore.
Or maybe I eat my words and this is more like the tariffs thing, where he barks and growls but in the end is a bully tactic to get others to do what he wants. Because that has in fact worked somewhat well.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(international_relatio...
What if Venezuela undoes that? What if countries decide they're going to squelch on their concessions to Trump as a result?
I included the economic disaster in my list. I just felt that I needed to explain why I considered it a military disaster even though the US could likely "win" Greenland. It would lose Europe and the ability to project military power through Europe. This impacts the ability to project power in Africa and the Middle East. It'll lead to a cascading military failure which leads to lots of other problems including further economic problems.
Denmark? An EU, NATO country? Shit that would really be unprecedented.