US threatens to annex Greenland - 2025/2026

[branmuffin]

there is already a US base in Greenland. Why not just work with that? Why all this hostility/demands/threats? I really do not understand why there isn't just more diplomacy.

I think there's about 150 staff members at the US base, just a skeleton staff. Right now they're just there to keep the lights on. There isn't one country that regularly monitors the seas around Greenland that has verified Trump's claim that the waters are crawling with Russian and Chinese ships. He's just blowing smoke to get Americans hopped up on a perceived threat against the US' interests.

 

[Inthedetails]

He still doesn't seem to understand that his tariffs impact Americans, first and foremost.

MOO

Many Americans believe him that other countries pay the tariff bills when that is not true.

jmo

 

[iamshadow21]

Many Americans believe him that other countries pay the tariff bills when that is not true.

jmo

Well, then they don't understand tariffs either.

It doesn't take much to educate yourself; I didn't know what they were before all this mess, either, as I never studied politics or economics. It took me all of an afternoon with Wikipedia and various news sources. And if I can understand it, with a learning disability that directly impacts my ability to do maths above a fourth grade level, the vast majority of people can learn to understand it, too.

MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

Well, then they don't understand tariffs either.

It doesn't take much to educate yourself; I didn't know what they were before all this mess, either, as I never studied politics or economics. It took me all of an afternoon with Wikipedia and various news sources. And if I can understand it, with a learning disability that directly impacts my ability to do maths above a fourth grade level, the vast majority of people can learn to understand it, too.

MOO

That's my point. Americans don't understand THEY pay the tariffs, even if it doesn't say "tariff" on the price tag.

Tariff history is one of my specialities from a former job. So this one is a big pet peeve for me.

jmo

 

[iamshadow21]

That's my point. Americans don't understand THEY pay the tariffs, even if it doesn't say "tariff" on the price tag.

Tariff history is one of my specialities from a former job. So this one is a big pet peeve for me.

jmo

You have my sympathies, this whole term is one protracted "people are wrong about my special subject on the internet!" for you, then.

MOO

 

[branmuffin]

“We heard that former Rep Billy Long, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland, joked to members on the floor last night that Iceland will be the 52nd state and he’ll be governor,” Politico wrote in its morning newsletter....

Iceland’s foreign ministry said it had contacted the US embassy for clarification....

On Wednesday Long reportedly apologised for the remarks in an interview with Arctic Today, a news website that covers the region....

Though Long said he could understand why the comments would have set off a reaction, he was adamant they were a joke and should not be taken seriously.

“I apologise and that’s my only comment, I look forward to working with the people of Iceland and I apologise it was taken that way. I was with a group of friends and there was nothing serious about it,” he added.

Anger in Iceland over incoming US ambassador’s ‘52nd state’ joke

Thousands sign petition calling on Iceland’s foreign minister to reject Trump ally Billy Long’s nomination

www.theguardian.com

It's this type of comment and behavior that keeps the moniker 'Ugly American' alive and well in the 21st century. Complete and utter disregard for how such comments and behaviors affect the greater population. And it's gaslighting too, suggesting that the people of Iceland misinterpreted his comment. Nothing worse than an apology with a subtle insult attached to it.

 

[otto]

Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland

President Donald Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland.

apnews.com

Always about the money! Trump is always threatening that he will add a tariff when other countries don't follow his orders. Hopefully everyone in the US today understands that a US tariff is a tax on the US people.

When the US threatens tariffs on NATO countries that uphold Article 2 and Article 5 of the agreement, what he means is that the US population will pay more for imported products.

“U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.

Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”
...

"We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”​

same link

"President Donald Trump has repeatedly and erroneously claimed that foreign governments are paying the entirety of his tariffs. While foreign exporters do pay a small fraction of tariffs, the truth is that the president’s broad-based tariffs essentially function as a tax on U.S. importers, and corporations have shifted most of the responsibility of paying tariffs onto American consumers through higher prices. The inflationary reality of tariffs for American consumers is widely accepted (by everyone except the Trump administration, apparently). However, U.S. companies are now surprisingly saying the quiet part out loud."​

"President Trump Says His Tariffs Aren’t Paid by Americans. Corporations Are Indicating the Opposite..

 

[Inthedetails]

It's this type of comment and behavior that keeps the moniker 'Ugly American' alive and well in the 21st century. Complete and utter disregard for how such comments and behaviors affect the greater population. And it's gaslighting too, suggesting that the people of Iceland misinterpreted his comment. Nothing worse than an apology with a subtle insult attached to it.

It's all a joke to them, and putting the world on edge for a snow-covered island is funny in that crowd.

The apology is just as insulting as the original comment, imo.

jmopinion

 

[otto]

The Observatory of Economic Complexity

The world's leading data visualization tool for international trade data.

oec.world

 

[Inthedetails]

View attachment 637607

The Observatory of Economic Complexity

The world's leading data visualization tool for international trade data.

oec.world

From the same link, Greenland exports $289M to Denmark, compared to the 27.8M exported to USA.

USA is a consumer of Greenland exports, but we are not their main market.

FWIW, it's land that is at issue, imo. Greenlanders likely value that in a different way than capitalism does.

jmopinion

 

[otto]

From the same link, Greenland exports $289M to Denmark, compared to the 27.8M exported to USA.

USA is a consumer of Greenland exports, but we are not their main market.

FWIW, it's land that is at issue, imo. Greenlanders likely value that in a different way than capitalism does.

jmopinion

If the US imposes a big tariff on Greenland, the cost will be shifted to the US consumer.

 

[Summerliz03]

U.S. lawmakers offer support in Denmark amid Trump threat to 'own' Greenland

“I think you will find that support in Congress to acquire Greenland in any way is not there,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com