Conservative columnist George Will is asserting that President Donald Trump's obsession with claiming Greenland for the United States was never about national security, but about the president's ego.
In a Tuesday video for the Washington Post, Will argued that the Trump administration's claims about the Danish-owned island territory should be viewed from the perspective of the president "throwing his weight around" for the sake of a "prestige infusion." And he opined that there is little reason for Trump to bully Denmark, which he called a "very close ally " due to having its own soldiers die alongside Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"There's no reason to believe that there's a military necessity that the United States has that could not be negotiated with Denmark," he said. "The problem is that what this is all about isn't negotiable."
Will pointed out that Trump's Greenland rhetoric escalated after the Nobel Prize committee in Norway – which is independent of the Norwegian government — awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado instead of him. He then observed that the president effectively told the world why he was willing to risk the United States' longstanding relationship with a NATO ally over the sparsely populated island.
"Trump simply said it. He's really peeved about Greenland because he's peeved with Norway, because he's peeved about the Nobel Peace Prize not coming to him. Therefore, it's reasonable to say that this is personal and not national security," Will said. "Whereas in fact he knows that his claim to have stopped eight wars — which is his so-called claim on the Peace Prize — is beside the point.
"He's not talking about Greenland because he wants Greenland," Will continued. "But he wants Greenland because it assuages his hurt feelings."
"Obviously the best solution in Greenland is to respect the Danish government that is sovereign in Greenland, respect the measured preferences of the people in Greenland, which is to stay as they are," he added.