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Explain how Trump taking Greenland is different to Russia invading the Ukraine?

49 replies

PurpleChick2 · 19/01/2026 12:25

Please explain this scenario as I don’t get it.

Trump wants Greenland
Putin wants Ukraine

what’s the difference?

Most of the world is against Russia invading Ukraine.

why does trump think he can have Greenland and we’ll all be ok with it?

OP posts:
IGuessIllbetheFirst · 20/01/2026 06:10

GeneralPeter · 19/01/2026 13:17

Decision to invade:

  • Both equally illegitimate (though rationales differ slightly).
  • Trump invading would all but wreck the Nato/Western alliance, which Russia’s invasion didn’t. [edited to add]

Manner of invasion/occupation:

  • Putin’s war has been brutal. That makes it morally much worse than a bloodless capture (which is presumably what Trump would do).

Situation post-facto:

  • From a Western perspective, US owing Greenland is good (ie splitting that question out from the two above), probably better than Denmark owning it. Russia owning Ukraine is bad.
Edited

And what about the people of Greenland? Don’t they get a say in who owns them? Or actually whether they should be owned by anyone or are able to be the independent nation they want to be. When did it become OK (again) for bigger countries to decide the fate of smaller ones?

They don’t want to be part of the US. They also don’t want to be Danish - in the elections, the majority party was the one that favours eventual independence with strong ties to Denmark/Europe. They want an independent Greenland for the people living there. Just like the UK has in fact.

If the world becomes a free-for-all, with no respect for countries territorial boundaries, then we heading towards a lot of conflict, maybe even another world war. China, Russia what will stop them expanding into territories they decide they want. It would be a much less safe world for us in Europe without NATO and I think this is becoming a strong possibility.

LupaMoonhowl · 20/01/2026 06:18

IGuessIllbetheFirst · 20/01/2026 06:10

And what about the people of Greenland? Don’t they get a say in who owns them? Or actually whether they should be owned by anyone or are able to be the independent nation they want to be. When did it become OK (again) for bigger countries to decide the fate of smaller ones?

They don’t want to be part of the US. They also don’t want to be Danish - in the elections, the majority party was the one that favours eventual independence with strong ties to Denmark/Europe. They want an independent Greenland for the people living there. Just like the UK has in fact.

If the world becomes a free-for-all, with no respect for countries territorial boundaries, then we heading towards a lot of conflict, maybe even another world war. China, Russia what will stop them expanding into territories they decide they want. It would be a much less safe world for us in Europe without NATO and I think this is becoming a strong possibility.

Completely unrealistic for them to be ‘independent’.
They have a choice-to be part of the US or part of Russia.
Denmark has no more ‘right’ to own the territory than anywhere else.

RedTagAlan · 20/01/2026 06:31

MNLurker1345 · 19/01/2026 12:45

Firstly America already has significant military presence in Greenland with full Danish consent. Trump has no plans to invade Greenland. A territory that a major power already has military access to and therefore degrees of military control is not at risk of invasion.
Greenland is crucial for American security, and therefore Western security.
China and to a lesser extent was providing capital to Greenland for infrastructure investment there gains some leverage.
Trump speaks in loud, noisy rhetoric, to send messages out to the world, China especially.

Why is Greenland critical for US security ?

And what capital is China providing ? You do know Greenland has no roads as such ? Not from lack of investment, but because it is 80% ice sheet, up to 3km thick . Is China building high speed rail through the ice sheet to connect villages of a few hundred people ?

leaflikebrew · 20/01/2026 06:41

It's the thin end of a very long wedge.

First Greenland - then Canada - then -where else?

NumbersGuy · 20/01/2026 06:52

First, Trump admitted this past week he wants Greenland because he was snubbed by the Nobel Prize Committee. Also he wants them for the mineral resource, as he made a deal with zelenski in order to keep supplying weapons an technology, they had to give up 50% of their mineral rights to keep the flow going from the U.S. Regarding removing him, the Republican (Torres) until elections this November, if the Democrats (Labour) can take over the entire legislative branch, to draw up again Articles of Impeachment, which i quite possible with all of his disastrous problems he keeps producing. On top of that, kidnapping Maduro and his wife on drug charges, he's stating now he is ruling Venezuela. Machado, who was in hiding while fighting Maduro and received the Nobel Peace Prize, gave him her medal and certificate, because his people told her to do it if she wanted to be a part of running the Venezuelan government. He's a grifter, doing his best to make as much money while he's in charge, and is aware that if our Congress changes away from his party, they will impeach him, which is why he's trying to thwart our Midterm Elections in November. He's a very dangerous person, likely with dementia according to various sources, which is why his inner circle is running the show to line their pockets. Yes it's a scary time for the world, because he's already been told by our own Supreme Court as president he can not be charged with any crimes. It's something that no one can reverse course on letting an unstable person in control right now unfortunately.

RedTagAlan · 20/01/2026 07:07

@NumbersGuy

You mention Maduro in your post. I reckon that is part of what is going on. I don't think they can make the charges stick.

Also, he expected to be hailed as the savior of VZ. Not happening. It appears the VZ VP hoodwinked him. She saw an opportunity to get rid of Maduro and took it. Ta very much, now feck off.

Add to that, the oil companies are not interested. Too much money, too much risk, and the oil price is too low.

Chocolatefreak · 20/01/2026 07:09

It isn’t different - which is why Trump has been so dismissive of Putin’s approach to Ukraine. And Stephen Miller basically spelled it out - he said that what the US intended to do with Greenland was no different from how countries have behaved over the millennia: ie that when resources are involved, a power grab by any means including force is ok.

Cherrysoup · 20/01/2026 07:09

There’s no difference. He absolutely has lost any credibility (did he ever have any?) re trying to get Putin to stop. If he tries to invade/take Greenland, NATO/Europe really needs to step up and call it an Act of war. This of course is unlikely as he is unpredictable and could simply impose massive tariffs, but we equally could impose sanctions (no to taking part in anything eg Olympics-this from an American political commentator) and throw out American military personnel but that would put us in a very vulnerable position.

Lonelycrab · 20/01/2026 07:11

Oh dear.

Is he now going to take the Chagos islands too?!?

jasflowers · 20/01/2026 07:11

RunningOnEmptyLegs · 19/01/2026 12:28

Trump doesn’t care what we think. No one is ok with it except a few of his batshit supporters.

I said on a recent thread that Trump has gone insane and lots of people disagreed - look at his letter to the Norwegian government. He is insane. He needs to be removed from office as a matter of desperate urgency 😢

Its possible his supporters say one thing but do and think v differently.

This is common practice when dealing with people with dementia etc.

Anonanonanonagain · 20/01/2026 07:11

Trump is taller? Louder? Speaks better English?

Gainingconfidence · 20/01/2026 07:15

He’s just getting confused poor guy. Muddling up the words ‘security’ and ‘access to natural resources’ . This is why there’s an issue despite him being told he can do what he likes regarding security and has as many bases etc as he wants. Thats not what he wants he wants to own it so he can drain it of everything but he keeps phrasing it wrong !

As for those files that wasn’t him in them , probably a big typo and they meant Tonald Drump, that’s not him. He will have to deal with that too maybe he will get someone to shoot or bleach the files who knows didn’t he want to shoot a storm or something once and bleach covid ?

DeftGoldHedgehog · 20/01/2026 07:17

He's all over the place. The US have given a demented golf bore immense power.

I run out of negative adjectives for anyone who voted for him or supports him.

GeneralPeter · 20/01/2026 08:44

IGuessIllbetheFirst · 20/01/2026 06:10

And what about the people of Greenland? Don’t they get a say in who owns them? Or actually whether they should be owned by anyone or are able to be the independent nation they want to be. When did it become OK (again) for bigger countries to decide the fate of smaller ones?

They don’t want to be part of the US. They also don’t want to be Danish - in the elections, the majority party was the one that favours eventual independence with strong ties to Denmark/Europe. They want an independent Greenland for the people living there. Just like the UK has in fact.

If the world becomes a free-for-all, with no respect for countries territorial boundaries, then we heading towards a lot of conflict, maybe even another world war. China, Russia what will stop them expanding into territories they decide they want. It would be a much less safe world for us in Europe without NATO and I think this is becoming a strong possibility.

Yes, what Greenlanders want is very relevant (it’s the main reason behind my very first bullet, ie Trump’s actions are illegitimate). I should probably have elaborated on that.

I agree that it would give China and Russia a big rhetorical win around Ukraine and Taiwan. Ultimately though, it’s not international law or the PR that really constrains those powers, it’s power calculations.

A dominant US is one of those worst-systems-except-all-the-alternatives-that-have-been-tried situations.

I also agree that NATO unraveling would be extremely bad (that’s based on the same principle of US power).

Ultimately, geopolitics is one of those domains where “what’s fair” and “what’s realistic” bump up against each other constantly. “What’s realistic” often comes straight back to “what will the big powers live with”. Hence why we have things like the P5 veto.

So we are typically looking for “what’s the fairest solution, within the bounds of what’s realistic”. I don’t think an independent Greenland would be functionally independent for long, it would either be a US protectorate or it would be heavily contested between the big three powers. (I normally don’t count Russia as part of a ‘big three’ but for Europe and Arctic purposes they are).

Fault lines close to big powers are often unstable. A US protectorate (whether de jure or de facto) is likely to be the most stable option. Also, as someone who prefers the Western system to either Russia or China I think it’s intrinsically preferable too, amongst the available options.

Chiseltip · 20/01/2026 08:47

Trump will get Greenland. Not a single European leader will do anything to stop him, and he knows this. There will be a few strongly worded emails, followed by an uncomfortable silence.

However, should any countries south of the equator try the same thing on their neighbours, our illustrious leaders will be first in the queue to condem their actions and start a war, all in the name of peace.

Just watch, not a single EU country will stand up to the US.

Kendodd · 20/01/2026 08:53

One point.
I don't think most of the world is against Putin taking Ukraine. I think most of the world doesn't give a shit about Ukraine.

GeneralPeter · 20/01/2026 09:04

Another question:

If Trump gets Greenland, would the next Democratic admin/congress give it up?

Would they? Should they? What does it depend on?

Fulmine · 20/01/2026 09:14

Someone commented the other day that, to understand and deal with Trump, we're no longer looking at politics and the constitution; you would have to call in psychiatrists and geriatricians. I think that's correct.

sunshinestar1986 · 20/01/2026 09:28

MNLurker1345 · 19/01/2026 12:45

Firstly America already has significant military presence in Greenland with full Danish consent. Trump has no plans to invade Greenland. A territory that a major power already has military access to and therefore degrees of military control is not at risk of invasion.
Greenland is crucial for American security, and therefore Western security.
China and to a lesser extent was providing capital to Greenland for infrastructure investment there gains some leverage.
Trump speaks in loud, noisy rhetoric, to send messages out to the world, China especially.

He has no plans?

Allisgoodtoday · 20/01/2026 09:30

It is exactly the same, another country's leader coveting a land they have decided they want.
Putin's war is more brutal; however, Russia and Ukraine have a history of being part of each other's territories. Unwanted, obviously on much of Ukraine's part but nevertheless it's there.

USA has no history with Greenland apart from its military base, negotiated with Denmark and Greenland. Trump is a bully....a man child who sees something he wants and will create havoc until he gets it.

Europe will not be safer if Trump gets Greenland, quite the opposite. USA itself may be safer because it can expand its territory and launch missiles from an area which doesn't impact the USA mainland. It will not benefit anyone else. Furthermore, USA will then have access the rare earth minerals, metals and even more importantly, uranium, which are currently buried under the Greenland ice sheet but which are becoming more and more accessible as that ice sheet melts (global warming is much faster up there in the Arctic).

Russia is not after Greenland and doesn't need it; it already has masses of these resources, they're hidden under the ice sheets of Siberia. China would like these resources which is partly why they have teamed up with Putin, China has declared itself a "near Arctic" state - the Russia-China cooperation works well because Russia has the resources but not the manpower, China has the technology and a load of people it can supply to work that technology. China is therefore not currently after Greenland either, an incorrect statement on Trump's part.

Canada also has many resources under its northern ice sheets (Northern Territories) which is why Trump would like them as well, but Canada is a bigger proposition and not as easy to take over. The USA's own bit of the Arctic (Alaska) is limited in what it can produce and what's under there, and it isn't as vast as Greenland.

Like China, USA is playing the "long game"; they know full well that the future, where global warming really takes a hold, isn't so very far away. The resources we have (eg. oil in the middle east, current mineral supplies, even water and food security) will be threatened and will eventually run out. Meanwhile, the melting Arctic will yield up new resources, also new land which will eventually grow crops and be where people begin to live as it becomes too hot further south. Even the fish will migrate to cooler seas north, there will be very little left elsewhere. Whoever 'owns' some of the Arctic will also hold enormous power at that point.
That's before we even consider other factors like military bases, sea route access for shipping goods/militarisation, and nuclear weapons, including northern airspace.

Because many everyday citizens don't see global warming as a major factor in their lives (busy with cost of living, children, mortgage, jobs) many do not realise how serious the "scramble for the Arctic" (comes from the title of one of many research papers on this) is, nor how soon it will impact on our future - it's "too far away" in their eyes.

Greenland is a big, big problem which we need to take far more seriously.

[I have lived and worked in Scandinavia in past years before retirement, travelled up and down east and west Greenland, seen the work of the Arctic Council, taken part in global warming research projects in northern Norway, seen first hand the issues with mining, militarisation and nuclear weapons in western Russia/Svalbard and so forth. I do have extensive knowledge on the subject and would urge anyone who is interested to inform themselves and speak up to friends, neighbours, action groups, MPs as you feel necessary].

sunshinestar1986 · 20/01/2026 09:31

leaflikebrew · 20/01/2026 06:41

It's the thin end of a very long wedge.

First Greenland - then Canada - then -where else?

Well, it's not where else
Cuz the US have already interfered with most of the world and destroyed many countries, I guess it's only shocking now because its too close to home.

Obsessivepenguin · 20/01/2026 09:37

There is a difference.

Putin got away with invading Ukraine because they were not part of NATO.

Trump invading Greenland means that the other NATO members are legally obliged to come to its defence and the world is changed forever. We will be at war with the US. It will affect every single one of us.

It’s the most dangerous thing to happen to the world in the past 80 years.

IGuessIllbetheFirst · 21/01/2026 05:12

LupaMoonhowl · 20/01/2026 06:18

Completely unrealistic for them to be ‘independent’.
They have a choice-to be part of the US or part of Russia.
Denmark has no more ‘right’ to own the territory than anywhere else.

Denmark doesn’t want to own Greenland. Denmark fully supports that Greenland should be an independent country whose population decides its own fate. Every Danish politician says the same - the Danes currently financially support Greenland and many would like to stop paying out big sums of money but also recognise that Greenland is not yet able to financially support itself yet.

Maybe you could get up to speed with the facts before saying something is unrealistic. In a world without Trump, it is completely realistic (and expected) that Greenland will be fully independent at some point and not owned by anyone. That was the outcome of the latest elections in Greenland - the moderate pro-independence party got the most votes.

The problem for the whole world, not just Greenland, is that Trump has years yet in power and we don’t know the extent of the damage he will cause.

kerstina · 21/01/2026 13:24

No difference in my eyes . If he actually does it. Shows the hypocrisy of everybody if he gets away with it.

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