By Ben Meiselas
Trump’s escalations toward Greenland and Denmark have intensified this week, and longtime subscribers know that when a crisis like this unfolds, I make it a priority to bring you voices with real expertise who can break down the facts clearly.
That’s why I spoke with former United States Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, who held the position between 2013 and 2017 under the Obama administration. What Trump is threatening is not a small diplomatic dispute. It is a direct assault on NATO, on the rule of law, and on the bedrock alliances that have kept global stability intact for decades. It is a threat of war. Of invasion. Denmark and Greenland are not shrugging this off. Europe is furious. And they should be.
In my report, I detailed what European leaders are saying behind the scenes and now increasingly in public. Germany’s foreign minister has stated that if Trump invades Greenland, Germany would invoke every NATO right to defend Denmark, including military force. That means Europe would be compelled to respond to an invasion carried out by the United States against one of its own allies. Germany, France, and other NATO members are preparing contingency war plans for this exact scenario. That is how seriously they take Trump’s threats.
Trump, meanwhile, is escalating openly. At a bizarre meeting with oil executives on Friday, he repeated his fixation on Greenland. He said, “We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not.” He added that he prefers a “deal,” but if he doesn’t get one, he will take Greenland “the hard way.” When asked about offering money to Greenlanders, Trump brushed it aside and said the United States will move forward regardless.
Trump’s representatives are just as explicit. Thomas Dans, who speaks for the Trump regime on Arctic policy, echoed the same message and refused to rule out military force. He said everything is “on the table.” He framed Greenland as a resource to be acquired, not an ally to be respected.
It is hard to overstate the consequences of a sitting U.S. president announcing the possible invasion of a NATO partner. Ambassador Rufus Gifford remains in close contact with Danish and Greenlandic leaders. His reaction was immediate. He shook his head before answering a single question.
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He called Trump’s approach “reckless,” “clueless,” and based on a “complete misunderstanding of history” and how NATO functions. He explained that Trump’s claim that Russia or China will “take over Greenland” is false. NATO already protects Greenland. If any adversary attacked, Article 5 would be triggered and the entire alliance would respond. Whether Greenland is governed by Denmark or hypothetically by the United States makes no difference to its security. NATO makes the entire alliance secure as a whole.
Gifford explained that the danger comes not from Greenland being vulnerable to Russia or China, but from Trump attacking the NATO alliance itself. Any move to seize Greenland would blow up the most successful security alliance in modern history. It would empower Russia and China instantly and leave the United States and all of Europe less safe.
Gifford then spoke about the human cost. Denmark has fought beside the United States for decades. Danish troops bled and died alongside Americans in Afghanistan. Denmark lost more soldiers per capita there than any country except the United States. Gifford said that trust took generations to build and can be destroyed in an instant, and Trump has shredded it. He shared that Danish military personnel and civilian leaders are devastated and feel betrayed. He read a line from a message he received from a Danish soldier: “A soldier never forgets who stood by his side. Nations shouldn’t either.”
That is the level of hurt and outrage Trump has created.
Gifford also made another critical point. Everything Trump claims he wants from Greenland could be achieved through cooperation. Increased U.S. military presence. Expanded economic partnership. Development of rare earth resources. Tourism and business growth. Every piece of that could be secured through normal diplomatic agreements, and Denmark and Greenland would welcome it. There is no need for threats or invasion. The only explanation for using this approach is that Trump views the world through a lens of dominance, extraction, and conquest, not partnership or strategy.
We also discussed how Trump’s rhetoric spikes after his people meet with Putin’s representatives. When Russian operatives met with Trump’s circle in Miami, Trump and his advisers immediately escalated their Greenland comments. Gifford said the connection is obvious. He noted that the Trump regime lumps Greenland and Venezuela together because both have resources and both fit Trump’s obsession with asserting control. One is oil; the other is rare earth minerals. But the comparison falls apart quickly. Venezuela is not a NATO ally. Greenland is. Targeting Greenland is targeting a friend.
Gifford ended with a clear warning. This is not just about an island of 57,000 people. This is about the future of the Western alliance. This is about whether the United States remains trusted by its closest partners. It is about whether Americans inherit a safer world or a shattered one. And he said it plainly: this is not in America’s interest. It is in Trump’s personal interest.
The path forward, he said, requires pressure from inside the United States and from our allies. Members of Congress, including Republicans, are finally speaking out. That momentum needs to grow. And European allies need to move beyond polite statements and speak with force and unity to deter Trump from acting on these fantasies.
The stakes are enormous. I will keep reporting on this story every day, and I’ll continue bringing Ambassador Gifford back on the show to update all of you. This is an evolving crisis, and it demands attention and clarity.
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