In typical Trump fashion, the president used his own media platform, Truth Social, to announce an upcoming "historic deal" with the Danes and Greenlanders on Arctic security and the U.S. presence on that island.
We Trump-watchers are not be surprised by his choice of media to reveal that deal and neither are we surprised that on the same day of that announcement that he stated he would be banning CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House' press room.
On the surface, the two actions are different, but they do seem to share a common purpose: to steer the general public away from news organizations that have attempted to portray everything that the president or his administration has done as anti-democratic, autocratic or even "fascistic" as journalism professor Jeff Jarvis said on CNN on the same day of the announcement.
That same professor, defending the First Amendment, said that the way to fight the problem of forced removal of the three entities was for all the other news outlets to walk out of the briefing room in solidarity. This, of course, totally ignores the real problem which is an über-biased left-wing press that has conflated reporting with journalistic commentary and uses its hatred for the president to push its own political agenda.
Trump is a target-rich environment.
The press would argue that they are just reporting the news, but in reality, they are actively creating it, with the sole purpose of securing their own futures in a media mix that is now exploding with podcasters, influencers and dominated by social media.
We must face the fact that America's media is siloed ideologically in the same way that Americans are segregated by their political beliefs.
The media claims it is all Trump's fault. According to them, Americans are suffering "buyers' remorse" for electing a leader who was larger than life with a larger than average ego and a resumé to match.
What did they expect? Millard Fillmore? Calvin Coolidge?
Trump has upset America's political apple cart many times over and he is not finished yet even as we edge ever closer to "Black Tuesday," on Nov. 3. They cite polls that prove (to them at least) that American voters have now turned the corner and want Trump to pack up his Louis Vuitton luggage and his trophy wife and sneak out the back door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue so that America can return to the "good old days" of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
If the media really believes that than I have an island (that is three times the size of Texas) to sell them. And that brings us back to Greenland.
According to media reports from today, many of which have come from Trump's own posting on Truth Social, Trump will sign an agreement next week at the UN with the Danish Prime Minister, Mrs. Mette Frederiksen, that secures American dominance on Greenland and that (according to the posting)
… the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America. Additionally, from now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.
I am assuming that this is going to be yet another revision to the original bi-lateral agreement that was made in 1951 and later amended in 2004 between the United States and Denmark. This military agreement gave the U.S. the right to expand U.S. military base presence on Greenland but only after "consultations" with the Danes. The meaning of "consultations" (article 3. c) was left purposely vague. It did not specify whether the Danes would have a veto right to any American plan for such base expansion or new base construction in new locations – a point that needs to be clarified.
In that regard, Trump's Truth Social post also states that
We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many.
This is a bold statement and would seem to raise the 2004 agreement up to a much higher level. If this comment and the one on "forever having the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States of America" is true, we can expect to see a new military, geopolitical and commercial path emerge that would give the United States more power in the Arctic and a larger more strategic "footprint" in Greenland.
One thing the Trump administration must be aware of is the increased wariness among the Danes and Greenlanders to trust the U.S., given the last two years of sparring on the "Greenland issue." The Danes have played their cards carefully, and wisely. They have sought the help of their neighbors in the EU and in NATO to stand with them through a number of high-level meetings, public declarations and joint military exercises. Danish politicians are united in their defense of their possession and its people. In addition, they have shored up support among the Greenlanders and their new government and they have been pursuing a communications strategy that has worked to their advantage.
Much has happened behind the scenes in Washington and Copenhagen and more will happen over the weekend. It is possible that the "devil is in the details" and that he will prevail and that the agreement will be put on hold until those details are worked out. But whatever happens, we have all relearned a valuable lesson from the "Greenland saga" and that is to never count your ice cubes before they are frozen.
Stephen Helgesen is a retired career American diplomat specializing in international trade. He has lived and worked in 30 countries over the course of 25 years under the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. He is the author of fifteen books, seven of which are on American politics. His latest book deals with the Danish-American relationship, written in both Danish and English. He has penned more than 1,500 articles on politics, economics and social trends. He now lives in Denmark and is a frequent political commentator in Danish media. He can be reached at: stephenhelgesen@gmail.com
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