Greenland is part of the democratic Kingdom of Denmark and as such, is part of a sovereign nation that is also a member state of the European Union and NATO. I have visited Greenland several times; its people are friendly, peaceful, tolerant and harmonious. But now because of the greed of one man and his gang of thug-puppets, these peace-loving people are under serious threat. They are scared and worried that their democratic right to choose their own destiny is about to be stolen from them.

Supposedly Trump is concerned about U.S. security but there is absolutely no support for this notion. The Danes and Greenlanders have a 1951 treaty with the U.S. which allows it wide latitude as to the use of Greenlandic territory for security purposes. Outright political control will not provide the U.S. with more security than it already has; as I’ve already noted, the U.S. currently has complete access to Greenland. So if access isn’t really the motivation here, then what is?

I think there are four possible reasons, some or all of which may be responsible for Trump’s obsession with Greenland: its mineral wealth; the fact that Trump wants the “western hemisphere” to himself; third, that he owes the Praxis outfit – and other significant donors – a place to develop their weird and almost Nazi-like technical state; and lastly, as he stated in his inaugural speech, territorial expansion. In other words, he wants Greenland to be part of his bulls**t self-aggrandising legacy. Trump has stated that “it will happen whether Greenland likes it or not” because “Greenland is covered with Russians and Chinese ships all over the place.” That latter statement is a verifiable falsehood; it’s just an excuse for Trump to steal a sovereign land for his own greed and ego.

These threats against Denmark and Greenland have further stoked the fears in other countries as well. Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada or to bring us to our economic knees and force us into joining the U.S. Other nations are also rightfully concerned: Mexico, Columbia, Iceland, Panama … the list goes on. And now nordic countries are beginning to send troops to Greenland under the vague umbrella of military exercises and/or strengthening Arctic security but that also is beginning to look like a preparation against invasion.

I’m strongly reminded of Hitler’s theft of the Sudetenland in the run-up to World War II; he used the Sudetenland as a pretext for the eventual takeover of all of Czechoslovakia. An existential question for us then: if we Canadians do not stand up to help protect Greenland, who is going to help us when Trump decides that “it will happen whether [Canada] likes it or not?”

The recent Vance/Rubio meeting with Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers Rasmussen and Moltzfeldt went nowhere and Trump doubled down on his demands. The fact is that Trump has to be stopped before he goes any further. He is completely out of control with his threats against allies and enemies alike (is there a difference any more?), but to threaten a democratic nation that is also supposed to be a friend and an ally such as Denmark and its island of Greenland is a new low.

Trump sycophant Stephen Miller’s rant vis á vis Greenland that might makes right is wrong, and it’s always wrong. Is this how the United States treats an old friend, an ally?? Is this how Trump carries out his election platform to remove the United States from involvement in wars??

There are only two ways that Trump’s aggressions against Greenland now can be irrevocably stopped before he worsens and we find ourselves likely headed into a major conflict of global proportions.

The first is for other Nordic countries, including Canada, to arm Greenland to the teeth with materiél and troops. The second is that the American people, regardless of politics, must make their overwhelming opposition (a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that only 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to annex Greenland) to this greed-driven scheme known.

Standing up to Trump particularly through your representatives and most importantly, as your elections come up this year (a frightening thought making the rounds is that Trump might try to cancel them) is now more important than ever. At the very least, and for the sake of your country’s reputation, your voices need to be heard. That said, all of us need to do what we can to prevent Trump from going forward with this affront to democracy and self-determination.