Hoping for TACO (Trump always chickens out) would be a mistake. Any compromise on US exploitation of rare earth minerals or expansion of the US military presence in Greenland would only confirm for Trump that he can get his way even with the most preposterous demands and would encourage further demands.
Trump's assertion that Ukraine concede to Putin’s conditions because of Russia's superiority should have been a premonition of America’s predisposition for a "might makes right" order, foreshadowing America's own interest for unilateralism; what David Rothkopf, an American foreign policy analyst terms the “Putinization of US foreign policy”.
America’s attack on Venezuela, threat to Annex Greenland, to incorporate Canada as its 51st state, to attack Columbia or take control of the Panama Canal and Gaza present existential concerns about a rule-based order and the legitimacy of the prevailing system for global governance.
More than an inconvenient disagreement amongst allies, Donald Trump’s threats are real and should be taken seriously and responded to with unified and consequential rebuttal. It is time to heed United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reichwarning - “Those who surrender to Trump’s tyranny invite more of it.” Any reticence to respond emboldens Trump to carry out his threats, which once effected will not be reversible.
Appeasement, graveling and conciliation on a range of Make America Great Again (MAGA) policies, including tariffs, trade, Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela and now Greenland have not been effective for constraining Trump’s disruptive policies. Trump insists the only limits on his powers are not international law but his "own morality"?
Trump’s threat to annex Greenland is more than a strategic test for NATO and Europe, it is the existential test for the global liberal democratic order.
Even with Denmark, Germany, the UK, Canada and others pledging a stronger NATO presence in Greenland Trump is intent on the annexation of Greenland, stating that "Countries have to have ownership and you defend ownership, you don't defend leases." Trump added that annexation will happen either "the easy way" or "the hard way".
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen noted “I believe one should take the American president seriously when he says that he wants Greenland,” adding “But I will also make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”
On January 6, 2026, President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Tusk of Poland, Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain, Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Frederiksen of Denmark on Greenland. issued a joint statement, noting that Greenland “belongs to its people.”
On January 13, 2026 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that it's important that the Greenlanders know by the deeds, not only by the words, that we respect Greenlander’s interests and that they can count on us during a press conference in Brussels.
The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, has been more diplomatic, calling on allies to protect Greenland and the Arctic region against rivals such as Russia and China, emphasizing that all NATO members, including the United States, agree on the importance of safeguarding the region.
Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof warned that NATO and Europe’s security would come under extreme pressure if the United States were to forcibly annex Greenland. A recent survey in the Netherlands found that 54 per cent support Dutch intervention if the United States attempts to take Greenland.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been the strong voice warning against any attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Greenland, signaling Europe's readiness to defend an ally's territorial integrity stating "If the sovereignty of a European and allied country were affected, the cascading consequences would be unprecedented.”
What Trump is after is not security, but Greenland’s unexplored oil and natural gas fields, and deposits of critical raw materials which contains 39 of the 50 minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and economic stability, including rare earth elements, graphite, platinum group metals, and niobium.
The annexation of Greenland will render NATO obsolete, end the international rules-based order as we know it, and make obsolete many of the institutions for global governance. Worse, it will consolidate a new authoritarian global order in which small and middle powers become vulnerable to extortion.
Beyond NATO, Australian Prime minister Albanese has not criticised the Trump administration’s actions, Albanese said his government was “monitoring developments”, calling for an adherence to international law. However other politicians and former politicians, including former foreign minister have voiced the ‘colossal challenge’ posed by Trump’s unpredictability, even raising concerns about the future of the AUKUS.
As Bruegel, a European think tank put it, hoping for TACO (Trump always chickens out) would be a mistake. Any compromise on US exploitation of rare earth minerals or expansion of the US military presence in Greenland would only confirm for Trump that he can get his way even with the most preposterous demands and would encourage further demands.
Anil Anand is an independent Canadian policy researcher and author with extensive experience in law enforcement, security, and social justice.
This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.
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