“Trump is right” …
… says NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at Davos.
Yes, he did say that:
And when it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right, other leaders in NATO are right: we need to defend the Arctic. We know that the sea lanes are opening up. We know that China and Russia are increasingly active in the Arctic. There are eight countries bordering on the Arctic. Seven are a member of NATO, that’s Finland and Sweden and Norway and Denmark, Iceland, Canada and the US. And there’s only one country bordering on the Arctic outside NATO, that’s Russia.
And I would argue there is a ninth country, which is China, which is increasingly active in the Arctic region. So, President Trump and other leaders are right. We have to do more there. We have to protect the Arctic against Russian and Chinese influence. And that is exactly what NATO ambassadors decided to do in September. We are working on that, making sure that, collectively, will we defend the Arctic region. …
There was one big irritant on the on the American side with NATO, and the big irritant, since Eisenhower, was that they were spending, the US was spending, so much more than Europe was spending. Even today, the US is spending 3.5% of GDP on core defence; we are spending in Europe average 2% on defence. And here’s my question to the audience. I mean, many of you, I know, criticize Donald Trump, but do you really think that without Donald Trump, eight big economies in Europe, including Spain and Italy and Belgium, Canada, by the way, also outside Europe, would have come to 2% in 2025 when they were only on 1.5% at the beginning of the year?
No way. Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened. They are all on 2% now.
On this Twitter thread from Fox News about Rutte’s remarks, about half the responses are anti-Trump.
I seem to recall that Trump has been harping on this “Europe doesn’t pay its share of defense” message for a long time. He seems to be making good on the goal of making them pay more of their share.
Oh, and Greenland? Stay tuned, but here’s what he’s saying now:
Based on a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
… [E]ssentially it’s total access. It’s, there’s no end, there’s no time limit. We’re not doing a 99 or 10 year or anything else. You know, the famous 99 year deals that you hear about because countries can’t do it for that countries go on longer. And so I think it’s going to be something that’s very well. Already it’s being reviewed very well. Well, I noticed the stock market went up very substantially after we announced it, but the details are being negotiated now. It’ll be very good.
Pipe dream? Empty braggadocio? I doubt the details will be as rosy as that picture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the results are advantageous to both the US and Europe – and maybe even to the people of Greenland.
Trump: There’s no end, there’s no time limit. We’re not doing a 99 or 10 year or anything else.
I read an excellent article at the American Spectator a couple weeks ago arguing that a lease would be the best approach. We get what we want without having to buy or invade.
If Trump is correct this is an even better deal than Andrew Wolf outlines in the article.
https://spectator.org/the-smart-way-to-get-greenland/
On this Twitter thread from Fox News about Rutte’s remarks, about half the responses are anti-Trump.
What the hell do these people think? That Russia and China haven’t been and aren’t going to continue to aggressively try to take advantage of the strategically and resource rich region that is the Arctic if there’s no push back from NATO? Are they that deeply ignorant? Or are they just blinded by irrational hatred of Trump to such a degree that they can’t even begin to acknowledge that he may have a point in this? I mean, yeesh.
I think a lot of people, both pro- and anti-Trump, both on the Left and the Right, have fallen for the narrative that Greenland is just Trump’s latest brainwave.
But it isn’t. Clearly some faction of the American diplomatic and military establishment has been working toward an enhanced US presence in Greenland for some time, predating the first Trump administration.
Legacy media did not see fit to make a fuss about it before, so it’s new to a lot of us, but it’s not actually new.
Things are not happening because Trump shot off his mouth and everyone leaped to do his bidding. Even people who in theory report to Trump do not leap to do his bidding. Things are happening because a lot of highly placed people behind the scenes are working toward it. They clearly have Trump’s ear now, and may not have had Obama’s or Biden’s, but they were always working on it or it could not have moved as fast as it has appeared to.
What Trump has done is make it a clearly articulated priority, and perhaps broke some kind of logjam in the diplomatic and military establishment that kept things from proceeding.
CC™ is probably more deeply affected by Greenland than China, Roosia, or leftist Europeans, and not in a good way.
I just now realized that the US, or China, or whoever, could pay every man, woman, and child in Greenland a million dollars to move somewhere else and the total cost would be under $60 billion.
That’s about the cost of the first year of the war in Iraq in 2003.
I’m sure it could be done for less than a million per person, but that would definitely be enough to move them. A family of four could buy a single-family house in Southern California and draw a six figure income on the remainder.
Too many people, on the Left and the Right, just can’t get past Trump’s bombast. I don’t like it either, but I do understand it to some extent.
If only the indigenous Greenlanders would call themselves northern Somail’s they’d be set for a new life in Minnesota, and already be acclimated. Acculturated is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish …., but that is frowned upon.
But then they would be pining for the fijords in no time, but not in the parrot (or puffin?) sense. Yes, Atlantic Puffins are native to Greenland, not blue though?
Nonapod
I’m banking on irrational hatred of Trump. That side, I get the impression, doesn’t care if the country is destroyed as long as Trump and his supporters are treated like the Jews in Germany during WW2.
Not even as a goodwill measure, strictly out of honor and dignity, the U.S. ought to return the Cape York meteorite to Greenland.
When you read about U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert E. Peary’s expedition to bring it to the U.S…. Wow! It reminds me of Harrison Ford in the movie, “Mosquito Coast.” A massive effort for a nonsensical purpose.
Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Highest among young men. And surprisingly, highest during the summer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Greenland
Various explanations are given, but I’ve read nothing particularly convincing. But if it’s young men, perhaps jobs and increased income from American projects might help.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is ‘a piece of work’.
But TRUMP CAN’T POSSIBLY BE RIGHT!!
Which gives one some idea of the problem at hand.
Simply put, it’s a question of definitions (and therefore illogical). Unempirical.
Totally subjective.
Example A (of scads):
“Trump Rages As Jack Smith Accidentally Exposed The Partisan Scam Behind The Jan 6 Probe”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jack-smith-accidentally-exposed-partisan-scam-behind-jan-6-probe
Example B:
‘”Go F**k Yourself!”: Brawl Nearly Breaks Out During Jack Smith’s Hearing’—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/go-fk-yourself-brawl-nearly-breaks-out-during-jack-smiths-hearing
I feel like this is where Trump is in his element: dealmaking on the geopolitical scale. If you set aside all the deliberate trolling he’s been doing (and I get tired of that, even while I enjoy the fact that it drives his opponents crazy), he is emerging as having been right on the issue. If he can close the deal, I have no doubts it will be advantageous to us, and to Europe if they allow it to be.