In recent days, the Danish government has reportedly discreetly communicated to Donald Trump’s team its willingness to negotiate military and commercial agreements about Greenland, contingent upon conducting discussions in a confidential manner.
Denmark is not seeking to engage in public disputes following the president-elect’s assertion that the U.S. should possess Greenland, a territory of Denmark.
Danish officials stated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization member aims to discreetly address Trump’s self-created crisis by engaging with future U.S. officials on how allied militaries might augment their presence in the Arctic Circle and how American companies could secure greater access to Greenland’s resources.
The back channel illustrates how certain announcements by Trump can elevate peripheral concerns to the status of emergency, despite the possibility of achieving equivalent outcomes through conventional diplomatic means.
It also highlights how certain nations are strategically positioning themselves by granting Trump concessions he may proclaim as successes, yet which do not meet his public objectives.
Trump and his associates assert that the pace of global events exceeds the capacity for conventional foreign-policy implementation, which often entails collaboration between governmental specialists and political appointees to present the president with alternatives.
They favor removing policy decisions from professional government officials and entrusting them to Trump’s personal contacts and intuition.
Trump asserts that the United States must assert authority over Greenland for national security purposes and has not dismissed the possibility of use military action to acquire territories or assets, including Greenland and the Panama Canal, which he considers essential to U.S. interests.
He also floated coercing Denmark with elevated tariffs until it relinquishes the island.
One of his primary concerns for the U.S. is China’s heightened engagement in the Arctic, where it has access to rare-earth elements essential for powering batteries and other technology critical to the future economy.
Trump believes that an enhanced U.S. military presence in the region is necessary to counteract Russia’s objectives, according to sources close to the president-elect.
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