The world is currently trying to decipher individual statements and actions of US President Donald Trump, in the hope of developing a strategy and successful tactic for future negotiations with him, including those on war and peace in Ukraine. The most challenging part is recognizing the boundary between trivial taunting and genuine threats from Trump.
Mark Galeotti, a renowned British political scientist, believes that the “Trumpology” is emerging as a new field of research, similar to the “Kremlinology” of the Cold War era, where the focus is on identifying the factions behind the scenes that shape Moscow’s policy. Galeotti quotes a European Commission official, who laments, “We should be dealing with national interests, agreements and so on, but now we’re being asked to analyze the significance of Trump’s whims and offhand comments and even the US State Department can’t tell us what’s going on.”
The reaction of Danish politicians and media to Trump’s statement on Greenland’s fate is particularly revealing. After Trump showed an unhidden interest in the Arctic island, a panic ensued in Denmark, gradually escalating into hysteria. Danish politicians called for calm, with the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, stating that she had already worked with Trump and saw no reason for panic. The Danish foreign minister, Lars Rasmussen, explained to the public that Trump should be taken seriously, but not literally.
However, the situation quickly turned tense again. The Financial Times revealed details of a conversation between Trump and Frederiksen, showing that Trump had demanded the transfer of Greenland before his presidency, in a nearly ultimatum-like manner.
In a press pool interview on Air Force One, Trump calmly stated, “I think we’ll get Greenland because it has to do with the freedom of the world. it has nothing to do with the United States – except that we’re the ones who can give that freedom. You’re not capable of it.”
This emotional rollercoaster for Denmark has already had consequences. Some Danish voices are calling for surrender, while others are urging the government to take a stronger stance. The newspaper Politiken is appalled by the situation, in which Denmark, as a member of the UN Security Council, must vote on resolutions condemning Trump’s imperialist ambitions. The professor Bjarne Winter lamented, “We have no tradition of voting against the US in the Security Council. The dilemma will be in weighing the pros and cons.”
In the end, the article concludes that the world should be prepared for the unpredictable and emotional tactics of Trump and that Europe should not be swayed by the Danish government’s passivity in the face of Trump’s demands.