Trump argued in a joint address to Congress that control of Greenland was crucial to U.S. national security.
  • Darkard@lemmy.worldEnglish
    246·
    1 month ago

    Just casually threatening war with NATO. From Mr “yOuR ThReAtEnInG wOrLd WaR 3” less than a week ago

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      96·
      1 month ago

      Somebody’s feeding him grandiose ideas about global warming and northern sea routes. Probably some flattering lies about splitting said routes between them and dominating world trade too, once Canada and the EU are out of the way.

      • federal reverse@feddit.orgMEnglish
        20·
        1 month ago

        To be fair, China has been investing in thawing sea routes for a while, though largely to free themselves from having to pass through the US-controlled South China Sea.

      • ECB@feddit.orgEnglish
        5·
        1 month ago

        True, same reason he’s hung up on the Panama canal (and why they always get brought up together)

    • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      41·
      1 month ago

      It has room to move people into as climate change makes living in the equatorial regions difficult.

      It has a bunch of minerals the USA could use.

      It houses a NATO base that if it were in Russia’s hands would make it easier for Russia to eventually project force westward.

      There are reasons for America to want Greenland. They all happen to be evil which Im fairly positive is a side benefit for the current administration.

    • misk@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      12·
      1 month ago

      Or, he recognises that arctic and subarctic territories are going to be worth much more in the future because of global warming. Trump is a major scatterbrain but in general it looks like he’s acting impulsively based on pieces of trivia, some of them being correct. Not that I agree with proposed solution to the issue but not everything he does is entirely dumb and those are very rarely inconsistent with his own interests.

        • misk@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          4·
          1 month ago

          He’s filthy rich now that he’s running a crypto scam for taking in bribes, so I wouldn’t say those are handlers rather than revenue streams. Other people are not in control of Trump, he’s a human wrecking ball that confuses theatre for politics, similar to general population that elected him.

    • Lazycog@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      6·
      1 month ago

      Damn you web mercator projection! If only Robinson projection was the default on google/apple/whatever trump uses -map.

      • bdonvr@thelemmy.clubEnglish
        12·
        1 month ago

        To be fair even on a globe Greenland is still massive. Just not quite as bad on Mercator.

        • 8fingerlouie@lemmy.worldEnglish
          9·
          1 month ago

          It is also mostly ice. The entirety of the central Greenland is covered by 1.6km to 3.7km thick ice.

          Settlements are around the coast, as Greenland has about 100km roads in total, no railroads and no inland water.

        • Lazycog@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          9·
          1 month ago

          Yeah but on mercator it looks bigger than Africa. Africa is actually really huge

          Edit: wording.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    72·
    1 month ago

    Kinda incredible how quickly he pivoted from, “We’re gonna stop spending billions on all these wars,” to, “Fuck it, I feel like invading Greenland.”

    • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      12·
      1 month ago

      Let’s take that hot air argument off the table.

      Escalating into nuclear conflict is a total loss scenario. The first one pressing a button would trigger a chain reaction that would render the planet an irradiated rock. Nobody gains anything.

      Nuclear armament is the last hidding place for fragile egos and we would be very fortunate if after this insanity streak there was a complete nuclear global disarmament.

          • Jhex@lemmy.worldEnglish
            36·
            1 month ago

            Not if you choose wilful ignorance… in that case we have no way of knowing anything

            • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              3·
              1 month ago

              Fine. Unless we have access to a crystal ball, I’m fairly comfortable in reiterating we can not know what would happen; a few educated guesses, certainly, but knowing, no.

              Afterall, it took a lawyer, turned actor, turned politian to have Ukraine peel off from the heavy russian influence over the country which eventually led to the ongoing conflict, as Russia lost the heavy influence it had over what was essentially a puppet state, akin to Belarus.

              Had Ukraine retained their nuclear armament - which, of memory serve me well, was disbanded in order to reach a peace agreement for the region, as Russia considered the presence of such weapons a threat - maybe it had become another rogue state just like Belarus is today.

              Can we know? No.

      • angrystego@lemmy.worldEnglish
        25·
        1 month ago

        Nuclear weapons are not meant for a nuclear conflict really, they’re used as a deterrent, and it works. Look how the world is scared shitless of helping Ukraine directly despite Russian army not being too strong - but Russia has nukes.

        Edit: Also see noone wanting a conflict with North Korea.

        • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          4·
          1 month ago

          Let us wait and see for how much longer that remains. Russia is resorting to mercenaries (don’t really know what else to call the north korean in the scenario). At some point, either Ukraine pushes back with enough force to end the conflict or other countries will start sending troops there, even if for nothing else besides urban security to relive more national troops to the front lines.

            • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              Also. Somehow, I have this feeling Europe is on the way to dust off the guns, after nearly - what? - 70 years. Hopefully, I’m wrong. I sincerely want to be.

              • angrystego@lemmy.worldEnglish
                7·
                1 month ago

                I actually really hope Europe, or at least some parts of it, will have the balls to protect themselves when the shit hits the fan. The idea of capitulation in the name of peace is becoming uncomfortably popular.

      • endeavor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        7·
        1 month ago

        Nuclear armament has given world unrivalled period of peace. " chain reaction that would render the planet an irradiated rock. " Nuclear winter is a lie. Nuclear weapons are not that radioactive. We do not have that many of them. Do not worry, your beloved mankind will survive to do another 100,000 years of genocide, rape, torture, murder, destruction, oppression and all the other things our sacred texts say are fun and good.

        • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          That was depressing to read.

          Humankind, please. Let’s try to include everyone, please. And yes, I do hope our species will thrive into a future I’m too small to even imagine.

          Second, be free to believe in whatever you may want but keep it to yourself. People covet power. Weaponizing belief is easy, as it preys on the weak and abandoned. Zealots are to fear, not belief. It’s about greed.

          Third, let’s put those fabled deterrents back into the box. Peace through fear is not peace. It’s a hostage situation.

          • endeavor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            2·
            1 month ago

            Its more like “peace through outcome too stupid and worthless to pursue” than “peace through fear.” But i recognize this is mostly down to opinion and i respect your optimism and pacifism and wish everyone was like that. Then our biggest problems would be kernel level anti cheat.

      • 8fingerlouie@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 month ago

        Considering trump, are we absolutely sure he doesn’t suddenly decide to throw a nuke at somebody who opposes him ?

        Putin is an ass, but I’m also fairly certain he won’t drop nukes on anybody unless somebody is about to invade the Kremlin. Trump however…

        • qyron@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          4·
          1 month ago

          Are we giving him more credit than the figure is worth? As others have already stated, that is a very last resort scenario. I don’t want to imagine the voices from seasoned military personell telling why it should not be done. I even risk someone would shoot the guy.

      • Kissaki@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        1 month ago

        would trigger a chain reaction that would render the planet an irradiated rock

        That’s the worst case scenario. There’s plenty alternate scenarios.

        But it’s besides the point anyway. There’s a lot that comes before that. The point is it’s a deterrent.

  • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
    41·
    1 month ago

    I always see photos of him with the fist raised like that. Looks like he chose his own salute. Not surprising at all, but seeing it is still both saddening and maddening

  • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    38·
    1 month ago

    Trump is making it unsafe for Americans to travel across the globe. Seriously if he keeps making these hostile statements some person with mental health issues will snap and attack American tourists in Denmark.

    • M0oP0o@mander.xyzEnglish
      11·
      1 month ago

      Prepare for a lot of fake Canadians.

      Easy test, make fun of the usa in front of them. Any Canadian worth their salt will join in (more so now a days), but most americans can not seem to do so without mentioning weird colours and parties.

      • Goldholz English
        3·
        1 month ago

        “If you are from the commonwealth, then prais your king, sing his anthem and swear loyalty to his majesty charles iii!” - me to any canadian soon

        • Kaput@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          As québécois I request that " qu’il mange de la marde le roi! " be considered as an appropriate stance to prove Canadian citizenship. You know just to celebrate the rich Canadian tapestry of cultures.

          • Goldholz English
            3·
            1 month ago

            I dont speak french im afraid. I neither see only nore celebrate the rich canadian tapestry. I am whole heartetly against any monarchie or concentration of power in one person.

            But true canadians and Québecians like you, will respond quite differently than americans will

  • gamer@lemm.eeEnglish
    28·
    1 month ago

    I still have my fingers crossed that RFK accidentally gives him some kind of super ebola that causes his anus to melt

    • trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works
      English
      19·
      1 month ago

      He’ll just wear a bigger diaper then. A huuuge diaper, absolutely tremendous. The biggest in the world.

      gesticulates with tiny hands to indicate gargantuan size

  • Th4tGuyII@fedia.io
    19·
    1 month ago

    It would be quite like Trump to completely disregard the consent of the people of Greenland in this exchange while giving them platitudes about how he respects their rights

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    1 month ago

    Are we minions? Really? Like the entire USA doesn’t have a way to remove this guy on a technicality at least? …to be president you must also be 7ft tall or younger than 65y? Must fit thru a 12" wide slot without extruding internal organs? Something! Maybe hair must be exactly 27um thick at the root and this must be measured after a hefty meal.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      1 month ago

      Like the entire USA doesn’t have a way to remove this guy on a technicality at least?

      If the entire US wanted him gone, he wouldn’t have taken off to begin with. The problem is that big swaths of the country are absolutely Q-pilled on this guy. They genuinely believe his schtick (thanks, in no small part, to a fully compliant corporate media and a complicit religious movement).

      Past that, there’s a mushy middle that feels utterly powerless. I’m sitting here on my couch in Houston. I don’t have any way to get rid of my shitty mayor, much less my fascist President. The issue isn’t finding a technicality. The issue is that bureaucrats in the US aren’t seriously interested in doing a coup. Comey/Mueller aren’t coming to save anyone. Hell, much of the police state is in the bag for this guy in one way or another. We’ve got enough Pam Bondis and Tulsi Gabbards and Ken Paxtons and Pete Hegseths and Michael Flynns bouncing around the branches of government that nominally provide national security to buffer out the opposition.

      It comes down to the fundamental problem of the American system of governance. We weren’t that far off the mark from outright fascism under Reagan or Truman. Trump’s crassness and ignominity are not, themselves, sufficient to get him removed from office. He’ll get away with trying to seize control of Greenland for the same reason Bush Jr got away with invading Iraq and LBJ got away with invading Vietnam and McKinley got away with invading the Philippines. Because this is who we are as a country. We’re a big military that steals shit from the periphery to enrich the elites in our imperial core.

      We’re an Imperial Power full of violent, invasion-loving thugs, rapists, and looters. We’re doing what we’ve always done.