Six months ago, Donald Trump said he’d agreed to a new “framework” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the future of Greenland, which was apparently designed to satisfy the American president’s demands. There were all kinds of questions about whether that agreement actually existed, but as the year got underway, that was Trump’s story and he stuck to it.
On Jan. 22, a reporter pressed the Republican to offer any details regarding the deal he had announced days earlier. “We’ll have something in two weeks,” he replied.
The notorious “two weeks” line should have been a big hint that Trump was just making stuff up as he went along, and the White House never released any additional information about the “framework.”
In the weeks and months that followed, he tended to shift his attention to different distractions, trivialities and preoccupations (the ballroom, the Reflecting Pool, the “triumphant” arch, the UFC bout, et al.), though for reasons unknown, the Republican’s Greenland fixation has made an unfortunate comeback just in time to generate avoidable and unnecessary tensions between the U.S. and its allies at the latest NATO summit.
Indeed, earlier this week in Turkey, Trump said that not only should Greenland be under U.S. control, he added that NATO’s reluctance to simply give him the Arctic island had “hurt” his relationship with the alliance. A day later, he went on to argue, “We took Greenland and then, stupidly, we gave it back. We shouldn’t have given it back to them, because we’re the ones that need it.”
On the flight back to the U.S., the president added a new element to the discussion.
Amid recent reporting on the administration’s plans for possible changes to U.S. troop levels stationed in Europe, a reporter asked Trump whether he intends to take additional steps.
“I haven’t made that final determination,” he replied. “A lot’s going to depend on Greenland. … I mean, you know, we’re going to make a very good deal on Greenland. And if we don’t, maybe I will.”
What a “very good deal on Greenland” might entail is anyone’s guess. But the comments struck me as notable because of the light it shed on Trump’s approach to dealmaking.
When it comes to negotiating, some excel at identifying what the other side wants and working it into an offer, making a deal more likely. Others look for leverage and pressure points, identifying what the other side fears and threatening to make that happen.
In nearly every instance and in nearly every situation, Trump embraces sticks and ignores carrots. His comments on Greenland are emblematic of the pattern: He’s prepared to pull U.S. troops out of Europe unless our allies on the continent satisfy his demand. He thinks he’s found leverage, and he apparently wants European leaders to believe he’s prepared to use it.
Time will tell what, if anything, comes of these threats, but if the Republican follows through, reduced U.S. troop levels in Europe would advance Russia’s interests, but not ours.
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