Greenland and the loss of trust between Europe and the United States

Milan. Details of the agreement reached by the United States with Greenland and Denmark regarding their presence on the island are expected to be made public in the coming days: for now, there is an announcement by the US President, Donald Trump, which unfortunately carries very little weight, but there are reassuring statements – accompanied by smiling selfies – from the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the Greenlandic Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, which, on the other hand, are credible and give cause for optimism. In fact, very little has changed compared with the agreements that have existed between Greenland and the United States since the 1950s: there is a strengthening of the American presence, which the Greenlanders have never opposed. 

It is regrettable, however, that in these unnecessary negotiations, the most precious asset between Europeans and Americans has been squandered: trust. Since January – ever since Trump said at the Davos Forum that that ‘chunk of ice’ had to be his at all costs, whilst posting AI-generated cartoons of himself holding the hands of penguins that do not even exist in Greenland – European experts and politicians have been saying that Trump’s ambitions regarding the Arctic island have shattered any certainty regarding the possible survival of a transatlantic alliance, however scaled back it may be: more so than the withdrawal from Ukraine, more so than the tariffs. So much so that there was a united and firm reaction, with the symbolic deployment of European NATO troops and, above all, the threat of a trade ‘bazooka’ against the United States. So much so that Trump, again in Davos, took a step back, saying he would not send troops and would not ‘buy’ anything, because – partly due to the markets, to which the president is far more sensitive – it was not, after all, that cost-effective. At that moment, at least, it was not, but the threats and attempts to persuade him have not ceased.

Stephen Miller, Trump’s immigration adviser and the architect of the ICE agency’s atrocities, used to say: ‘We can do whatever we want in Greenland; who’s going to send soldiers against American soldiers – the Europeans?’ Maps showing the American flag extending as far as Greenland were a favourite gimmick of Trump supporters, and between visits of varying success and influencers paid varying sums, constant pressure and threats built up, shattering relations between the European NATO countries (of which Greenland is a member) and Trump’s America. If the terms of the negotiations had been those which – as far as we know now – are in the agreement, namely a lasting American presence and the exclusion of the Russians and Chinese, there would have been active cooperation from the European negotiating partners, given that the Greenlanders are seeking greater protection, and a collective strengthening of the Atlantic allies. Instead, the opposite has occurred, and these increasingly pronounced divisions are also an incentive for the Russians, in particular, to prey on the Europeans, intensifying attacks of all kinds and eroding the mutual defence pact upon which NATO’s deterrence is founded.