As foretold by the prophets, a mighty Konungr from a faraway country will soon take possession of an icy land first settled by Norsemen from the Old World. Either that, or President Donald Trump will finally get what he always wanted in Greenland, but with an extra twist.
The BBC reported early Tuesday that the Trump administration is "holding regular negotiations with Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland," according to "the usual sources familiar with the discussions." While a far cry from Trump's opening position of making the Danes turn over Greenland and recognizing it as an American possession — the "easy way" or "the hard way," as Trump put it — the discussions reportedly include more than just a handful of new military bases.
One source told the Beeb that administration officials "floated an arrangement in which the three new military bases would be formally designated as U.S. sovereign territory."
That's the twist.
Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, said the talks had taken “some steps in the right direction” and noted a shift toward "talking respectfully to each other."
Or as the BBC put it, "Despite Trump's threats, the countries have been actively working towards a deal in recent months."
Translation: Trump rolled in like the boulder at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio's team, like rival archeologist Belloq, is ready to swoop in and collect the prize with much less fuss.
I can't believe that people still get their feathers all ruffled by the well-rehearsed good-cop/bad-cop routine, yet here we are. Again.
And Another Thing: I wrote about Greenland back in January for our VIP supporters, and if you didn't already know about the strange story of Camp Century, you'd hardly believe it. But understand before going any further in today's column exactly what we got away with in Greenland without first demanding full sovereignty: a secret nuclear-powered city buried beneath the Greenland ice cap, built to test a vast hidden missile network aimed at the Soviet Union. It didn't work out, but the thing is, we actually let the Army try to build a fricken Doctor Evil missile base in someone else's country without telling them.
The U.S. currently operates just one installation in Greenland, Pituffik Space Base (gesundheit), down from 17 military bases we operated during the Cold War. Greenland remains as strategically vital as ever. Renewed Cold War rivalries with Russia and China mean renewed tensions over Arctic resources and the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. (GIUK) Gap that controls Russia's access to the Atlantic.
Plus, there's this tasty little item by Carl Popal for RealClear World, concerning rare earths, "the 17 elements that make electric vehicles run, wind turbines spin, fighter-jet guidance systems lock onto their targets, and smartphones come to life."
While currently dominated by Communist China, "the most transformative developments are unfolding in Greenland," where "the island’s southwestern region has emerged as one of the world’s great rare earth districts."
You'll be shocked — shocked! — to learn that's basically where the Trump administration wants Copenhagen to recognize U.S. sovereign territory for new military bases. Or maybe, just maybe, also for extracting rare earths without foreign regulatory interference.
I'm not saying the administration is playing Vulcan space chess, but if Trump's ears suddenly turned pointy, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
Recommended: Dear Mr. President: Just Finish the Mullahs Already
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