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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by metermatic26@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Island’s government says no approval given after Greenland Energy brings kit ashore for exploratory drilling.

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[-] Tango@piefed.ca 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The fact that he's busy with Iran is half the reason this is happening. Trump needs a win and probably reckons that he can quickly drive a tit-for-tat escalation over Greenland oil rights in time for the US midterm elections. Right now, his approval ratings are in the toilet, even to a certain extent with voters who have voted for him before... and it's not because his voters disapprove of his law enforcement policies or because of his being all over the Epstein files. It's because right now he's demonstrating major weakness in Iran. He looks weak, and that's the one thing he can't afford to be seen to be.

My point is that he obviously sees Greenland as a quick win. He has some basis for this opinion: Europe is currently hopelessly dependent on the USA for our security. We're working on fixing that, but aside from a few exceptions, we've only been working on it for a few years; we haven't spent decades preparing for a "what if the USA tries to fuck us?" scenario the way Iran has. The USA is busy with Iran, but we're busy with Russia in a way that the USA simply isn't. Right now the EU has Russia sniffing around its eastern border, and a sudden US rug-pull could be disastrous. Both sides are aware of that, which is why the EU has been trying de-escalation so far.

Trump, like Putin, will keep pushing for as long as he's allowed - but the solution of "stand up to him" only works if we can follow through. You don't pull a gun if you're not willing to fire it. Acting tough now and then quickly capitulating later wouldn't help, so the key question is "if we push back and Trump doesn't back down, can we put our money where our mouth is? How far are we willing to go with this if it turns into brinksmanship?". I honestly don't know what the answer to that question is, but European strategists are better briefed on the logistics of the situation than I am, so hopefully they do, and react accordingly. I suspect that the European response will be subtle but firm, moving JUST ENOUGH resources into Greenland's vicinity to let Trump know that if he DOES try something, it would get messy and wouldn't be over quickly enough to give him the quick boost he's looking for.

[-] Jarix@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago

He saw Iran as a quick win too though

[-] mildseason@sopuli.xyz 5 points 17 hours ago

I don't agree. I think the Israeli's needed breathing room to move forward with the Greater Israel project. The US was brought in to disrupt the Iranian support of Hamas. It was never about winning. It's about providing military assistance to Israel for colonisation of the Middle East.

@Tango@piefed.ca makes a lot of good points. The EU is currently funneling billions into the Eastern front. If the US was to set up shop in Greenland. Could the EU meaningfully push back. They are so entwined with the US any type of war would be a disaster, trade or otherwise.

If the US seriously invades Greenland there's not a lot Europe can do. Almost all EU tech infrastructure relies on US companies. They'd be fucked.

Strap in. It's about to get even worse.

[-] Jarix@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I used win because that's what was used in the comment I replied to.

I was just pointing out that the Iran conflict was not intended to be long engagement either.

If Trump thinks invading Greenland is going to be a quick engagement that's also as much of a miscalculation as thinking Iran would be quick.

Further more I don't disagree that good points were made. If the US declares ownership of Greenland that will be the next chapter world warfare.

Strap in indeed. And I for one will go fight it

[-] benjirenji@slrpnk.net 1 points 12 hours ago

Even more urgency to make ourselves more independent from US tech companies. What is Europe going to do when Microsoft or MasterCard sanctions us? Yeah, exactly. Time to implement alternatives. Monopolies make us all weak and easy to control.

this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2026
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