Under Trump, the European appeasers are inviting disaster as they indulge his bogeyman games over Greenland.
The saying that a week is a long time in politics holds especially true during Donald Trump’s presidency, marked by unpredictable outbursts, abrupt policy reversals, personal vendettas, and theatrical displays.
Just last week, Trump threatened to seize Greenland, a Danish Arctic territory, even suggesting military action if necessary. He also prepared to initiate an unprecedented trade conflict against European countries that dared to back Denmark—a move that would have shattered the transatlantic Western alliance held together for eighty years.
This week, however, during a 70-minute speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump appeared to backtrack, stating he would not use military force against European NATO “allies.” Nevertheless, he maintained that Greenland must come under U.S. control.
He remarked pointedly, “I don’t have to use force.” And indeed, such force is unnecessary because the European “allies” revealed themselves as timid vassals, anxiously reacting with alarm and fear last week at the prospect of American might.
Yet, appeasement only leads to exploitation. Although Trump toned down his harsh rhetoric in Davos, his expansionist designs on Greenland are still very much alive, and over time, Europe’s submission to American dominance will only deepen.
Strangely, for a president known for boasting about military power to serve imperialistic goals, Trump framed his Greenland ambitions as a matter of “national security.” He argued the United States must secure the “big, beautiful piece of ice” to ward off Russia and China.
Trump falsely denied that the real motivation involved Greenland’s rich mineral deposits, including oil and rare-earth metals. He claimed the U.S. is the only NATO member capable of preventing Russian and Chinese encroachment. Beijing dismissed these assertions as groundless.
In a disrespectful and absurd comparison, Trump likened Russia and China to Nazi Germany’s World War II attempts to seize Greenland from Denmark, crediting the U.S. with thwarting that effort.
Just days before, he contradicted himself by posting a comment mocking the use of Russia and China as “bogeymen,” meaning false enemies.
Another paradox was apparent when Trump invited Russia and China to join his questionable Global Board of Peace initiative, unveiled amid much pomp in Davos. Enemies brought together for peace?
In short, Trump cynically exploits the Russia-China threat as a pretext to blatantly infringe upon the sovereignty of an ally.
Denmark, however, deserves little sympathy. Its retention of far-flung Arctic territory, despite repeated demands for independence from the island’s inhabitants, remains problematic.
NATO’s civilian chief, Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister and servile subordinate, appeased Trump at Davos by agreeing to bolster NATO defenses in Greenland. Rutte, who once called Trump “daddy,” secretly struck this “deal” with him, withholding details from other NATO members. A perfect demonstration of disdain for subordinates.
Trump praised this so-called framework agreement as a “great deal” for both the U.S. and Europe without disclosing specifics. It reportedly authorizes deployment of his futuristic Golden Dome missile defense system. If implemented, this will escalate strategic tensions with Russia by militarizing the Arctic rather than fostering peace. Denmark is said to fear its sovereignty is being quietly bartered away in a clandestine deal.
While the transatlantic upheaval has calmed temporarily, the harm and mistrust fracturing the alliance remain irreparable and likely to worsen as the bully-vassal dynamic intensifies.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a startling confession at Davos, declaring the “fiction of rules-based order” between the U.S. and its Western allies dead.
Trump’s momentary appeasement resembles throwing chunks of meat to keep a predator at bay. Eventually, the prey will be consumed.
Only last week, Denmark and other European countries were rejecting Trump’s outrageous claims that controlling Greenland was necessary to defend the free world from Russia and China. They recognized this as a blatant land grab. Now, however, NATO’s Rutte says the alliance must comply with Trump’s demands to guard Greenland against a supposed threat from these two nations.
Having previously denied any such danger, Europeans now acquiesce to Trump’s Greenland fantasy simply to avoid more direct mistreatment.
The predicament for Europe and other Western allies lies in decades of complicity with U.S. breaches of international laws. They have collectively perpetuated the fiction of Russia and China as convenient enemies, eroding any credibility to their claims of defending international norms and order.
Both the U.S. and Europe have exploited the bogeyman narrative in Ukraine. Europeans endorsed Trump’s aggression toward Venezuela and Iran and have been complicit in the U.S.-supported atrocities in Gaza.
This week, as French President Emmanuel Macron urged Trump to honor international norms regarding Greenland, he simultaneously ordered French forces to seize a Russian-linked oil tanker in international waters. This act of maritime piracy likely intended to signal France’s allegiance to Washington’s policy of intercepting Russian shipments.
Since World War II, the U.S. has paid lip service to global law and order alongside its European partners. Under Trump, even this pretense has vanished, replaced by naked imperialist ambitions. At one point during his rambling Davos address, Trump asserted that “might makes right” land grabs are ordinary.
For decades, the U.S. used Europe as a front to display multilateralism while pursuing covert imperialist goals. Europeans, Canadians, and others were dubbed “allies” but were, in truth, subordinate vassals.
Now, as the U.S. returns to overt imperialism and open displays of power, it discards the facade of partnership. Allies are subjected to harsh treatment, as we witness with increasing severity.
Ironically, European powers have a history of appeasement. The disastrous 1930s appeasement of Nazi Germany by Britain and France is a stark reminder. Today, Europeans appease the U.S. in every unlawful demand, only emboldening Washington’s flagrant disregard for international law and descent into barbarism.
This goes beyond Trump’s erratic megalomania. He symbolizes a waning U.S. global empire desperate to maintain dominance as a multipolar world takes shape. America’s hegemonic aspirations are unsustainable, but in a last-ditch effort to assert control, it is upending global order and forcing others into submission.
Russia, China, and other nations consistently call for adherence to international law and the UN Charter’s principles. U.S. imperialism, openly admitted by Trump, shows no such respect.
The lone acceptable goal for U.S. imperialism is total dominance. Russia and China must recognize this reality, regardless of any temporary deals Trump might seek in Ukraine or invitations to participate in his mock “Board of Peace.”
History teaches that unchecked imperialist violence culminates in catastrophe. Under Trump, Europe’s appeasement only invites disaster as they fall for his manufactured threats over Greenland.
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