I have often noted that we find ourselves in our current predicament because the Republican Party, and specifically then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, failed to take what would have been a relatively low-risk (politically speaking) opportunity to bar Trump from ever holding federal office during his second impeachment trial. Every Senator who voted to acquit that day owns a deep and historic level of responsibility for the chaos in the streets of Minneapolis, as well as the growing possibility of the rupture of the post-WWII global order over Greenland. I will reiterate that the lion’s share of the guilt and share for the party’s failure that day belongs on McConnell’s shoulders. I think he knew better but thought he could have his cake and eat it too, as he probably thought Trump was done politically, so why risk GOP backlash over a conviction vote?
The Republicans, as a collective actor, now find themselves at a pivot point over Trump’s reckless behavior regarding Greenland. I agree with The Atlantic‘s Anne Applebaum, Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw.
Here’s the text:
Dear Jonas:
Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only a boat that landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT
Applebaum correctly assesses this thusly.
One could observe many things about this document. One is the childish grammar, including the strange capitalizations (“Complete and Total Control”). Another is the loose grasp of history. Donald Trump did not end eight wars. Greenland has been Danish territory for centuries. Its residents are Danish citizens who vote in Danish elections. There are many “written documents” establishing Danish sovereignty in Greenland, including some signed by the United States. In his second term, Trump has done nothing for NATO—an organization that the U.S. created and theoretically leads, and that has only ever been used in defense of American interests. If the European members of NATO have begun spending more on their own defense (budgets to which the U.S. never contributed), that’s because of the threat they feel from Russia.
Yet what matters isn’t the specific phrases, but the overall message: Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian government and certainly not the Danish government, determines the winner of that prize. Yet Trump now not only blames Norway for failing to give it to him, but is using it as a justification for an invasion of Greenland.
This is all quite accurate. And she concludes with the following.
[This] leaves Republicans in Congress as the last barrier. They owe it to the American people, and to the world, to stop Trump from acting out his fantasy in Greenland and doing permanent damage to American interests. He is at risk of alienating friends in not only Europe but also India, whose leader he also snubbed for failing to nominate him for a Nobel Prize, as well as South Korea, Japan, Australia. Years of careful diplomacy, billions of dollars in trade, are now at risk because senators and representatives who know better have refused to use the powers they have to block him. Now is the time.
There is no argument here: apart from Trump himself simply deciding to stop and going the TACO route, there is no other actor in American government who can act in any decisive way, save the Republicans who control Congress. The president is poised to do significant long-term harm to US national security. If this isn’t a time for checks and balances, I don’t know what is.
I have no doubt that some GOP members of Congress are 100% onboard with Trump’s imperialistic stance towards Greenland, among other things. But it is difficult to believe that many members, especially in the Senate, don’t understand the massive risks associated with Trump’s behavior.
Yet they sit idly by and watch it all go by.
It is difficult to generate any hope of action, by the way, when retiring Senators are unwilling to speak out. To wit, Senator Tillis.
And,
Not that I am in the habit of putting much trust and hope in politicians, but the cowardice here is off the charts.
I often understand (intellectually, that is, not morally) the behavior of Republican politicians, as they are primarily motivated by re-election, and the nature of our electoral system places a lot of emphasis on the party’s base to retain seats. But Tillis has no such concerns. Moreover, he is 65 and, based on his bio, likely has plenty of money. And yet, he hedges.
Trump once bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. He is now testing that hypothesis on a grand and terrifying scale.
Here’s some stuff from Trump’s Truth Social feed on this topic. All perfectly normal, of course.
