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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   22308 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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USA really, seriously wants to own Greenland.

Trump has made this extremely clear ever since his first presidency when he first offered to buy the island from the Danish government. At the time, the Danes made it very clear that this was not possible. They could not legally sell the island, and if they could, it still would not be for sale. This presidency, he has been probing around, trying to find an effective strategy that can give the administration what they want. He made that clear in 2025 by essentially stating that no tactic is off the table. He has since attempted the following:

  1. Threaten a military takeover. He did this by stating that military intervention was not considered off the table.This was shut down by European leaders promising to retaliate.
  2. Convince the locals to declare independence. In reality, independence for Greenland means choosing a new master (thus creating an obvious opportunity for the US), as their current society cannot survive without subsidies from a wealthier nation. However, the administration failed to convince the Inuits. I suspect they might return to this strategy in the future though, if the current one does not work.
  3. Currently, the administration is attempting to use the situation in Venezuela as leverage. They are showing that the threats of invasion were not empty, using the implication to frighten the relevant parties into submission. Once again, European leaders have, through indicating support for Denmark, threatened retaliation if the US invades. I suspect this will be enough to deter the administration once more. Although if Europe had not been supportive and instead let Denmark stand alone, I do not doubt that America would be planning an invasion right now.

This begs the question though: Why does the US want Greenland so badly? It is a frozen rock in the middle of the ocean, with an entire population living off government subsidies. Why not just let Denmark pay the bill while the states keep their bases? I have some ideas below, ordered from what I think makes the least sense to the most:

  1. It is a hedge against global warming. As the earth grows hotter, Greenland will become increasingly habitable, making the island much more valuable as other landmasses are swallowed by the ocean.
  2. Real estate for data centers. The island is cold and remote, with a lot of empty space and rare earths in the ground. To my layman's knowledge though, construction of the necessary infrastructure would be ludicrously expensive, even though the land itself might be cheap. Still, I would not put it past the likes of Elon Musk to try something like this anyway.
  3. To secure the North Atlantic against military threats. This seems like the official reason, but I don't really buy it. America already has military bases on Greenland, and I do not see why the military could not simply send more equipment and personnel there if the government wanted a larger presence. No official ownership necessary. If this is wrong, then I invite any other commenter to correct me.
  4. To control the rare earths. Rare earths are a priority of the Trump administration, and even though extracting them is supposedly ridiculously expensive, the mere possibility of another country (China) gaining access to them might be enough to warrant official occupation. This way, the US government, not the Inuits, would be in control of who is allowed to mine there.
  5. It is in the American "Sphere of Influence". It is possible that the world order is turning towards one in which Great Powers (USA, Russia, China, and maybe the EU) hold influence over the smaller countries in their vicinity. The smaller countries remain sovereign and independent as long as they operate in the interest of their great power. In this scenario, the USA views all of the Americas as being under her sphere of influence, including Canada and Greenland. These countries will either bow to their leader or suffer her wrath.
  6. The purpose is to secure Trump's (and more broadly, the Republican's) legacy as president. Trump clearly cares a lot about his image, with the most recent example being how hard he has tried to win the Nobel Peace price. Successfully expanding the nation's territory with the world's largest island would go down in the history books, cementing this administration as potentially the greatest one since world war 2.

If Trump really wants it he can make a deal (under threat of sanctions or impossibly high tariffs on Danish exports) with Denmark to offer a referendum with three options:

  • Remain part of Denmark
  • Declare independence (leading to economic ruin and the vast majority of the population having to leave as subsidies dry up)
  • Become an American territory with a $100k cash payment per person and a continuation of subsidies

My guess is that in this scenario the overwhelmingly Inuit population which has some of the highest rates of alcoholism and suicide in the world will vote for option 3, or a modified option 2 with the explicit promise of an economic suzerainty relationship that is essentially 3 in all but name.

This referendum would conform to both EU and UN guidance on the rights of indigenous peoples and self-determination blah blah blah.

However it would probably also require Congress, and they are both uninterested and know that Trump gains and loses interest in this topic regularly.

If Trump really wants it he can make a deal

My intuition here is that poor negotiating has soured his counterparties on the idea of deal making, and they weren't in a position to be looking for one anyway. Denmark seems happy enough with the status quo, plus Trump is at least coming across as more than a bit of a jerk here: why should they be open to any offers at this point?

I felt the same way about the "merge with Canada" thing: maybe a good idea long term for all involved, but approached in a disrespectful manner that soured voices that needed to agree. Hardly the work of a "master negotiator" unless you think that selling used cars is the pinnacle of such.

Without knowing much of the Inuit or Greenland's colonial history, something tells me a group of North American indigenous people probably wouldn't be willing to consent to US government rule. There's a bit of history there.

Amerinds in the modern US love America.

North American indigenous people have also been some of the most patriotic and fiercest fighters for the United States.

North American indigenous people

Fun fact! The Norse settlement of Greenland predates the modern Inuit population, although the Norse population seems to have died out on its own (and there is evidence of a separate, even earlier culture unrelated to the other two). I assume this is the basis of Denmark's original claim, but it's at least interesting in (technically) differing from the general "European power took land from natives" narrative.

Yes, arguably the Inuit inhabitants are colonizers as well displacing the earlier inhabitants which come from a separate wave of settlement (and there was at least some small amount of friction with the Norse inhabitants before they died out too).

There is hardly anywhere on the planet that that isn't the case.

That makes sense to me.

My guess here is more based on contemporary cultural narratives and vibes shaping perceptions vs actual history

This ignores the threat of sanctions resulting in retaliation from the EU, which could cause real economic damage to the US. If it was this easy, the administration would have already done it.

What would be the basis for sanctions? Has not Denmark already committed to respecting the decision of the Greenlandic population on the question of political separation?

Retaliation for the tariffs. Back in 2025 when Trump threatened tariffs left and right, EU leaders stated that it would retaliate as one body if even a single country was targeted. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/22/europe-has-a-trade-bazooka-against-trumps-trade-tariffs.html

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