Trump Wants Greenland: 'National Security' or Just a Good Deal?
Donald Trump, according to the Financial Times, believes the US 'has to have' Greenland, citing 'national security' imperatives. This isn't just bombast; it's a throwback to a long and rather undignified history of powerful nations deciding which territories they 'need.' One might recall the 1898 Spanish-American War, where the US gained control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, all under
the guise of freeing oppressed peoples (from Spain, naturally, not from the US). The FT frames it as a geopolitical gambit, but it sounds suspiciously like a developer eyeing prime real estate—a cold, ice-bound real estate, but real estate nonetheless. When a superpower declares 'we have to have' a sovereign territory, the unspoken implication is less 'negotiation' and more 'manifest destiny with
an invoice.' How many times does 'national security' serve as a polite euphemism for resource acquisition or strategic dominance?