- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
Listen to Donald Trump and you would think Moscow and Beijing were lying in wait off the coast of Greenland, ready to pounce to boost their power in the Arctic.
“There are Russian destroyers, there are Chinese destroyers and, bigger, there are Russian submarines all over the place,” President Trump said recently.
That is why, according to America’s president, US control of Greenland is essential.
So how do you think Moscow has reacted to its alleged plot being uncovered and potentially thwarted by a US takeover of Greenland?
The Russians can’t be pleased. Right?
Wrong.
In an astonishing article, the Russian government paper is full of praise for Trump and critical of European leaders who oppose a US annexation of Greenland.
“Standing in the way of the US president’s historic breakthrough is the stubbornness of Copenhagen and the mock solidarity of intransigent European countries, including so-called friends of America, Britain and France,” writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“Europe does not need the American greatness that Trump is promoting. Brussels is counting on ‘drowning’ the US president in the midterm congressional elections, on preventing him from concluding the greatest deal of his life.”
“Greatest deal”? The reporter explains what he means. I have to keep reminding myself I am reading the Russian government newspaper, not a pro-Trump publication in America.
“If Trump annexes Greenland by July 4 2026, when America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he will go down in history as a figure who asserted the greatness of the United States,” writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
"With Greenland, the US becomes the second largest country in the world after Russia, surpassing Canada in area. For Americans, that’s on par with such planetary events as the abolition of slavery by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 or the territorial conquests of the Napoleonic Wars.
“If, thanks to Trump, Greenland becomes part of America…for sure the American people will not forget such an achievement.”
And the Russian reporter has this message for America’s president: don’t U-turn.
"It is dangerous for the American president to back down over Greenland. This would weaken the position of the Republican Party in the midterm elections and likely result in a Democrat majority on Capitol Hill with the ensuing consequences for Trump. Whereas a rapid annexation of Greenland before the elections can change this political trend
Depends on how you count it. Northern Marina Islands were annexed in 1986 but they were a territory under our jurisdiction from the 40s and I don’t know much about the history of the place before that. If you’re talking about overthrowing a functioning government and taking the land, maybe Hawaii? McKinley was probably the last big expansionist.
That’s if you don’t count puppets. We’ve got and have recently had a few of those as well.
Northern Marianas is a bit of an odd case, I would say, as it wasn’t annexed/conquered by the US in the classical way - army marches in, kills a bunch of people, sets up government - and instead was a gradual process, that also seemed to have been mutually beneficial.
But Hawaii was a classic case for sure. Also happened in the mid 19th century, when everyone else was also doing that sort of thing. There might have been a few cases in the early 20th century as well, but I’m not sure.
Post WWII however? Not that I know of.
Plenty of regime changes, interventions, coups and puppet governments and whatnot, but all those countries still exist and did not lose any part of their territory to the US. And the people still have their own identity.
Greenland would be the first case of the US doing a conquest like that since before WWII, very similar to what Russia is trying in Ukraine.