this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2026
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European NATO leaders have issued a joint statement that "Greenland belongs to its people" and it is for the Arctic island and Denmark only to decide on its future, after President Donald Trump's administration reiterated its wish to take control of it.

The statement said that NATO and its allies had increased its activities and investment to make the Arctic a safe place and that Denmark and Greenland were part of that alliance.

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[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 31 points 1 day ago (2 children)

A joint statement is great, but it's still words. I fear Trump and Putin aren't taking the EU very seriously because we're mostly words.

These words would carry a lot more weight if people believed Europe would back them up. And the most obvious way to do that, would be to liberate Ukraine. A Europe that liberated Ukraine from Russian occupation is more easy to believe when they say they will defend Greenland as well.

The issue here is to dissuade the US and Russia from even trying.

[–] RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well moving EU troops into Ukraine would rapidly cause Russia to go to war with the EU, and in short order, US would be forced to make a decision as part of NATO.

Unfortunately I suspect the US would use the moment to backstab the EU, abandon them, and attack Canada, Greenland and Mexico, since no one could come to their defense.

We need an alliance with China.

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Russia is struggling with Ukraine. They cannot deal with the EU. Even without the US.

Biggest problem here is that the US may actually just try back out of NATO (in action rather than treaty) and basically abandon Ukraine and straight up back Russia.

Though with Venezuela and now the threats on Greenland, it will be hard for us (the US) to claim that we have no appetite for war. Which has been the biggest excuse to ignore our allies.

[–] RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Did you read the US national security policy they just released? Have you been listening to everyone over the last few days? They make it very clear they intend to secure the Western hemisphere because they think it belongs to them. Your country thinks my country belongs to you. Trump is very likely going to move on Greenland, and once the pretense is gone I imagine he would do exactly what he claims to want to do, in formal policies and all over the media.

I don't know why Americans seem to think "oh he's just joking this time". A rule of thumb: If it involves making people's lives worse, he's not joking. He wants to control the Western hemisphere and if he has to kill millions to do it, he will.

You're in denial if you don't think Trump is going to drive the world to war. Or maybe you happen to believe that my country does in fact belong to the US?

[–] halferect@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm American and I didn't think he was joking during his first term and this term I fully expect that in a month the US will take Greenland, I don't know anyone who thinks Trump is just a Lil goofy guy making goofy jokes.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

No prediction on when the US takes Greenland, but it's happening as soon as the administration feels they have Venezuela under control. They're not repeating Hitler's mistake of not driving for the Russian oil fields before opening more fronts.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I agree with every bit of that except ascribing these actions to Trump's wants and vision. He would be perfectly happy getting fatter, holding rallies and grifting from the Oval Office. These actions are put into his head by handlers such as Miller, who's the most visible.

Trump is the perfect tool, a malignant narcissist fallen to dementia. He's easier to control than a toddler. All they have to do is keep him off camera on his bad days and let him have his way with meaningless stuff like renaming the Kennedy Center.

tl;dr: Trump is in control of very little. While we point fingers at him, the real powers behind the throne are moving fast and mostly undercover.

I didn’t say he wouldn’t drive the world to war. I am just saying it is complicated and alliances aren’t going to be easily identified.

Trump and them are pieces of shit and they are doing exactly what I expected when they were elected. I voted for Kamala.

Rhetoric and actions are going to be very different and you can’t trust anything they say. Just what they do.

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

More specifically, Russia can't deal with a united EU. They might be able to deal with us one at a time, and we have a tendency to be divided. If there was ever a time we need to set aside our differences and recognise that we need to act together and decisively, it is now.

And we need to wrap up Putin's crappy war in a way that keeps Ukraine strong and on our side, so we will be stronger, and we can be prepared to deal with the US if Trump goes for Greenland.

[–] BoJackHorseman@lemmy.world -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Send all your military to Ukraine so America can beat a tired army in half an hour and take over Greenland and Canada.

Amazing plan!

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not all. We're not going to station a hundred thousand troops on Greenland. That war is going to be fought mostly at sea and in the air, with relatively small numbers of arctic units on the ground.

The main thing we need is subs to sink the aircraft carrier they will send. The US is about as far from Greenland as the UK, while Canada and Iceland, both NATO, are closer. That gives us the advantage of closer airfields and fjords to hide subs. Once the US loses a carrier group to Trump's folly, they'll reconsider the wisdom of their greedy aggression. Maybe not Trump and Miller, but everybody else will.

I don't think we should engage with their carrier in the air. Our air forces are first needed in Ukraine to provide air cover for a breakthrough there. I know it sounds utterly nuts, but I think NATO has a fair chance of fending off Russia and the US at the same time. But we need to be more decisive than we generally are.

[–] BoJackHorseman@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

When will Europe stop pretending that NATO is mostly America. Without America, NATO is laughable.

It doesn't look like you want to seriously go into a war with America. You have your fingers crossed hoping Trump realised they shouldn't attack another country cuz stealing land is bad.

You do want to get in a serious war with Russia.

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 1 points 21 hours ago

I don't want to get into any war, but Trump and Putin only respect countries they see as strong, and they see us as weak. The way to discourage their aggression is to show ourselves to be strong. By far the easiest way to do that is by liberating Ukraine. If we don't even do that, how can they believe we'll defend Greenland or Estonia?