Photo Credit:Greenland
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Call it a "Greenland Action Plan," or, "'pulling stones from the ice.'A couple days ago, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, gave a press conference during her short whirlwind trip to Greenland.
Nothing new about that EXCEPT that she read out a statement to the press in English that was targeted to the American president, though she made it sound as if she was speaking to the American people. The statement was clear. Keep your hands off Greenland. It is not for sale. It cannot be annexed and the Danish government is not going to let you Americans take it for any reason, and certainly not for your “national security interests.”
Cynical and suspicious people might say that, in fact, the whole trip was really about the opportunity to stand between the outgoing Greenland prime minister and the incoming one, just as the new government there was officially constituted to give a two-minute warning shot across the bow of the Resolute desk.
That message being, that to invade a sovereign land, even one whose population was no greater than that of Maple Grove, Minnesota, would not be tolerated by Denmark and its allies in the EU.
And so begins the new war of words over the the world’s largest block of ice.
I fully expect that President Trump will now throw down the other shoe and take his case to Truth Social, X, and all the other social media platforms to launch the equivalent of an invasion by rhetoric designed to get the backing of Americans and to win the hearts and minds of the Greenlandic people.
Before he does that, however, he would do well to remember that in July, the Danish PM will take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, effectively giving her the perfect podium for coalescing support for protecting Greenland from the clutches of the Americans.
If President Trump is not able to keep his cool (and not regard Mrs. Frederiksen’s remarks as a threat to his political manhood), he is liable to make some critical tactical errors at a time when much of Europe is already well on its way to becoming America-haters because of his tariff policy and refusal to keep funding the Ukrainian war machine.
A better approach might be for America to copy the Chinese model of the “belt and road” initiative and to regard Greenland as a potential Puerto Rico-type partner and encourage investment there from American companies now operating in China.
In short, use Greenland as a stepping stone for those companies not wanting to go the whole way back to the U.S., but offer them incentives to invest in Greenland.
Trump could then use “greenback power” to woo the Greenlanders towards America.
The Danish government would then have to match the Americans’ example or cede the battlefield to them.
At a time when Denmark is trying to fund its ambitious three-part environmental program, pay for its military rearmament, keep supporting Ukraine as well as writing checks to Greenland to the tune of $600 million each year for its block grant, they will be hard pressed to find the Kroner to subsidize Danish companies to do the same.
The war of words will escalate but not replace targeted action.
Rhetoric that supports a political agenda is often labeled as “propaganda,” and I have no doubt that American rhetoric on Greenland will also be labeled as such, but if the administration is serious about strenghening its position on and with Greenland, words will help. All the same, they will not take the place of positive actions that are also viewed as positive by the Greenlanders.
The new Greenland Action Plan (GAP) should be a three-part plan.
The first part must start with a cessation of tough talk on the part of the White House.
It must be replaced by an appeal to American industry to step up and join with the U.S. government in investing in the island.
The first investments should be in tourism because if more Americans visit Greenland, more Greenlanders will be more inclined to welcome them — and their dollars — to their country and perhaps, over time, come to the realization that the U.S. is not Russia and that Donald Trump is not Vladimir Putin.
The second part of the GAP is the actual investments. They should be made with a view towards strengthening the U.S.’s military presence in the country at new bases of operation and by enlarging the existing Pituffik base. Each new investment and each new expansion must be preceded and followed by a media and social media blitz, highlighting those investments.
The Office of the Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs now located in the State Department should be replaced with a new office that reports directly to the vice president (who desperately needs some image-rebuilding when it comes to Greenland) that is comprised of a representative from State, Commerce, the intelligence agencies, and the Defense Department. The office would coordinate all programs of a government nature and be the liaison with the U.S. business community.
If a tree falls…
It will do no good to do good if no one hears about it. That’s why I stress the need for a coordinated media and social media strategy that will inform the U.S. citizenry and especially the Europeans with a special focus on Greenland and Denmark of the progress being made in making Greenland stronger, more self-sufficient and more profitable.
Since bad news tends to travel faster than good news, a concerted effort must be made to make the good news stemming from the new GAP more lasting and sustainable.
Social media will play a key role, but the White House should not expect the mainstream media to help them. They are too busy trying to help the Democrats win in the mid-term elections that are now less than two years away.
The final step is for more of the administration’s cabinet members to visit Greenland, starting with a business delegation led by the Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and with the participation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The delegation’s theme should be that of an exploratory nature and should not be tied, necessarily, to a visit to mainland Denmark but instead be focused on the Arctic.
An alternative to that could be an American-organized event in Denmark immediately preceding the Greenland visit to which would be invited all the Department of Commerce Senior Commercial Officers from all American embassies in Europe to brief them on the administration’s efforts and its expectations of them to promote such investment.
It is now time for more thoughtful measures to replace the less thoughtful ones and to remember something from 9:11 (not the day, but from Ecclesiastes): “… the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
Time may not heal all wounds but it will help us remember how we got them and God knows we all deserve another chance to correct our mistakes.
Stephen Helgesen is a retired career U.S. diplomat specializing in international trade who lived and worked in 30 countries for 25 years during the Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush Administrations. He is the author of fourteen books, seven on American politics, and has written over 1,500 articles on politics, economics and social trends. He now lives in Denmark and is a frequent political commentator on Danish media. He can be reached at: stephenhelgesen@gmail.com
Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
