The US resorts to psychological warfare to obtain Greenland

WashingtonThe psychological warfare that Donald Trump waged against Venezuela is now being applied in Denmark and throughout Europe. Spurred on by the shock caused by the illegal military incursion into the Caribbean nation and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the US government is targeting Greenland as its next objective. The president and his advisors are considering "a wide range of options" to seize the Danish-controlled island, according to a White House statement released Tuesday, which emphasizes that the use of military force "is always an option." The moment is ripe to brandish a threat once again. that exactly a year ago the tycoon alreadyHe used to say: everyone has in their minds the photograph of the deposed Venezuelan president, dressed in a gray tracksuit, a mask and earmuffs, immobilized aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima

The White House hasn't even flinched at the joint declaration of the main European leaderswho have closed ranks with Denmark. A firm statement in support of Copenhagen (emphasizing that the Arctic island "belongs to its people"), but lukewarm toward Washington (describing the United States as an "essential partner"). The US administration is only presenting European leaders with two options, and neither includes "no" for an answer: either the easy way (giving up and selling the island) or the hard way (military intervention).

US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt again pressured Europe this Wednesday by drawing an analogy with the attacks on Iran and Venezuela. "Look at Venezuela. [Trump] tried very hard to make a good deal with Maduro, and he said, 'I'm going to use the US military, and you're not going to like it if you don't accept that deal.' And look at what happened with Iran. The president said the same thing, right? He showed a serious interest in closing a deal—they were interested. So there was Operation Midnight Hammer," the spokeswoman explained. Washington uses the term "diplomacy" to refer to asymmetrical negotiations, in which the other party risks being attacked if they do not accept the offer made by the Trump administration.

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In recent hours, there have been conflicting reports about the United States' intentions regarding Greenland. On Tuesday, the White House was emphatic in its statement: the Arctic island is a national security priority and "calling on the military is always a commander's choice in any of the armed forces." But after brandishing the stick, on Wednesday Leavitt placed more emphasis on the option of purchasing the island. According to him, Trump and his team are "actively" discussing this proposal. "All options are on the table, but the first is always diplomacy," he asserted. He stated that the idea of buying Greenland "is not new": "It's something that since the 1800s, [US] presidents have said would be good for national security." Under the presidency of Andrew Johnson, a report already suggested the United States' desire to acquire the island. Almost a century later, in 1946, Harry Truman also offered $100 million for Greenland in Denmark.

On Tuesday, they leaked to Washington Post US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained to members of Congress in a closed session that the escalating rhetoric over Greenland was part of a strategy to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland to the United States. However, Rubio's words should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt after the White House ignored congressional authority in the attack on Caracas. The Secretary of State is scheduled to meet with Danish representatives next week.

Be that as it may, the avalanche of statements and information over the past five days has already achieved one of Washington's objectives: to determine the narrative framework in Europe. The question is no longer whether the United States will annex the Arctic island, but how they will do it. In other words, for Washington, the annexation of Greenland is now an almost inevitable fact.

The snowball started rolling on Saturday with a simple photograph posted on social media. The image showed a map of Greenland with the American flag and was accompanied by a single word: "Soon." Katie Miller posted the photo and comment a few hours after the US intervention in Venezuela. Miller is an influential voice in the MAGA sphere and the wife of Stephen Miller, a key advisor on Trump's domestic policy, known for his sympathies with supremacism white, and mastermind of the mass deportation campaign in the United States.

The uproar generated by this publication prompted Trump to be emphatic on Sunday night: "We need Greenland from a national security standpoint," he declared aboard Air Force One, en route to Washington. On Monday afternoon, Miller went a step further and defended the right to annex the Arctic island by force, if necessary. "We are a superpower, and under President Trump, we will behave like a superpower," he declared in an interview on CNN.

As an autonomous territory of Denmark, Greenland is also a member of NATO. Therefore, what Miller is proposing—and what the White House is now saying—would mean one country in the Atlantic Alliance attacking another. Paradoxically, the deputy chief of staff is invoking NATO to defend his imperialist arguments. "The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region and protect and defend NATO's interests, Greenland should be part of the United States." Neither the island nor Denmark poses a threat to U.S. national security. In fact, Copenhagen and Washington have historically cooperated through a joint defense agreement signed in 1951. Furthermore, the U.S. military maintains a base on the island, in Pituffik.