Why the 47th president's Greenland move could reshape the world order

By Vitaly Ryumshin, Gazeta.ru political analyst

Donald Trump certainly knows how to grab attention. The new US president has entered the 2025 political season like a bull in a china shop. 

In less than a month, Trump and his team have managed to rattle Canada, Mexico, and Panama. But while these moves could be dismissed as political trolling, it’s Denmark that’s really on edge. Overnight, Greenland, previously regarded as a remote, unremarkable landmass, has become the crown jewel of Trump’s imperial ambitions.

Reports from US media insiders suggest Trump is “100% serious” about his intention to grab the island. The president-elect has even hinted at taking the island by force if Denmark refuses to sell. This has sparked a flurry of debates in the American press, with even Trump’s detractors weighing the military capabilities of America and Denmark and calculating the potential benefits of controlling Greenland.

Naturally, theories abound as to why Trump is so fixated on this land. Broadly, these explanations fall into three categories. First, Greenland might be part of Trump’s larger, yet unclear, plan for a geopolitical reordering of the world. Second, Greenland’s rare earth metals and its strategic Northwest Passage – a North American counterpart to Russia’s Northern Sea Route – could give the US a critical edge over China. Finally, skeptics argue that Trump’s obsession with Greenland is nothing more than a personal whim, fueled by his desire to secure a place in history.

Trump’s penchant for “bigger,” “greater,” and “brighter” projects certainly fits the narrative. What could be more monumental than securing the largest territorial acquisition in modern history? Colonizing Mars is Elon Musk’s business, but annexing Greenland – now that’s a legacy-defining move. However, this theory falters when considering the practical implications of such a move. 

What’s the point of annexing Greenland? The US already maintains a military presence in the Arctic. Greenland’s resources could be accessed through negotiations with Denmark, likely at a much lower cost than outright control. And the geopolitical fallout would be immense. Whether or not the EU retaliates, NATO – already strained – would be effectively dismantled. A rift between the US and Western Europe could push the EU closer to Russia or even China, severing access to critical overseas markets and military infrastructure. For a president promoting the philosophy of Make America Great Again, such risks seem counterproductive.

A more plausible explanation is that Trump doesn’t actually intend to annex Greenland but rather aims to increase American control over its resources and strategic location without formal acquisition. To achieve this, Trump is deploying his signature “madman” strategy.

Consider the famous scene from the Russian TV series Streets of Broken Lights, where Anatoly Dukalis, pointing a machine gun at criminals, shouts, “I’m a fool, I served in Afghanistan! Drop your weapons!” The criminals comply, not because Dukalis is actually insane, but because he convincingly pretends to be. Trump’s approach is remarkably similar. Over the years, the American media has cultivated his image as an erratic, dangerous madman. To many, the phrase “crazy idiot” is now synonymous with Donald Trump. 

Remarkably, this “madman” strategy works. By playing into expectations that he’s unpredictable and willing to do the unthinkable, Trump forces his adversaries to make concessions. During the campaign, Trump threatened to crack down on social media and jail journalists he deemed unfair. After his victory, he appointed Brendan Carr to head the Federal Communications Commission. Carr promptly vowed to dismantle companies censoring their platforms. On January 11, Mark Zuckerberg gave a tearful interview to Joe Rogan, detailing how the Biden administration suppressed free speech and pleading for Trump’s protection against European censors. 

In the case of Greenland, Trump has done little more than make provocative statements. Yet Danish officials are already reaching out to his team, proposing to expand US bases on the island and expressing a readiness for dialogue to avoid losing their territory. It wouldn’t be surprising if Denmark now offers Washington significant concessions.

If this is where it ends, Greenland could go down as one of the most audacious political scams in modern history.

The geopolitical implications of Trump’s gambit are significant. The island’s rare earth metals are crucial for high-tech industries, and control of the Northwest Passage could alter global trade routes. However, the most important outcome might be the impact on NATO. A serious rift would mark the end of the alliance as we know it.

The irony of Trump’s strategy is that it relies on the very media narratives that portray him as a threat to the Western world order. By leveraging his reputation as an unpredictable “psychopath,” Trump is reshaping the global chessboard in ways that his predecessors never could.

The story of Greenland’s annexation may remain unfinished, but one thing is clear: Donald Trump’s “madman” strategy continues to defy conventional wisdom, forcing even his fiercest critics to play along.