For the past seven years, President Donald Trump has pushed the idea of annexing Greenland, which Denmark has dismissed as \u201cabsurd (1).\u201d But while there has been plenty of talk about the strategic importance of the territory, which is an autonomous and self-governed part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and its natural resources, new reporting reveals another reason the U.S. wanted it. And it has to do with a struggling restaurant chain.<\/p>\n
The New Yorker has (2)published (2) a detailed account of the argument to take over Denmark. For Tom Dans (3), a Trump appointee to the United States Arctic Research Commission (USARC), gaining control of the country was seen as a way to possibly bring about the return of a beloved (and expensive) promotion: Red Lobster\u2019s Endless Shrimp.<\/p>\n
Must Read <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I met [Dans] for lunch in Washington, earlier this year, he declined to speak further on the record, except to articulate a narrow, symbiotic vision for the future: \u2018My view is that the United States could take all the seafood Greenland could produce, and cut out the middleman, and keep it from China \u2014 and you could bring back all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster,\u2019\u201d The New Yorker\u2019s Ben Taub wrote.<\/p>\n
Trump appointed Dans as director of USARC in December. The article also alleges he was running a private \u201cinfluence operation\u201d in Greenland, and was a key part of the reason Greenland has become a fixation for Trump in his second term.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to get meetings with people, you have to coach an idea, and you have to work it and sell it and help people understand why it makes sense,\u201d Dans is quoted as saying. \u201cUltimately, it has to become their idea, not yours. There\u2019s no end to what you can accomplish in D.C. if you are willing to give other people the credit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenland was back burnered during Iran conflict <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s obsession with Greenland has faded from the headlines in recent months, as the U.S. has launched military actions in Iran, then attempted to negotiate a peace deal. But the territory remains on guard.<\/p>\n
Greenland residents have been watching, worried, as the Trump administration carries out killings (4) in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean against what it claims are drug-smuggling vessels. Then there was the raid in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Trump has also talked about a possible invasion of Cuba. When (5)asked by Axios (5) if that could follow a path similar to actions in Venezuela, Trump said, \u201cPossibly. It\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read More: Robert Kiyosaki has a grim warning for baby boomers. This is what he recommends to protect your wealth<\/a><\/p>\n The life and death of Endless Shrimp \u2014 and what it has to do with Greenland <\/p>\n Whether Dans\u2019s comments were tongue-in-cheek or serious, they may not have taken the Endless Shrimp promotion\u2019s impact on Red Lobster into account.<\/p>\n Endless Shrimp was first introduced 21 years ago and was a fan favorite. In the third quarter of 2023, however, the company (6)reported an $11-million operating loss (6), blaming the promotion, in part, for the shortfall.<\/p>\n That summer, Red Lobster had started offering the deal during all opening hours instead of just on Mondays (6). People responded \u2014 vigorously. And that was doubly true of (7)social media influencers (7).<\/p>\n \u201cThe proportion of the people selecting this promotion was much higher compared to expectation,\u201d Ludovic Garnier, chief financial officer of Thai Union Group (which owns a stake in (8)Red Lobster (8)), told investors on a call in November (6).<\/p>\n The restaurant (9)brought back (9) Endless Shrimp without Greenland earlier this year, though with a few more limitations than last time.<\/p>\n Incidentally, Red Lobster says it does not source (10) shrimp from Greenland or anywhere close to it. It says its shrimp come from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, China, Ecuador and Guatemala.<\/p>\n Article Sources <\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Euronews (1<\/a>); The New Yorker (2<\/a>); High North News (3<\/a>); New York Times (4<\/a>), (6<\/a>); Axios (5<\/a>); YouTube (7<\/a>); Fast Company (8<\/a>); Red Lobster (9<\/a>), (10<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: US Arctic official pitched a potential takeover of Greenland to \u2018bring back all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past seven years, President Donald Trump has pushed the idea of annexing Greenland, which Denmark has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,57452,57,7813,58,56913,36165,56914],"class_list":["post-114944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-denmark","tag-endless-shrimp","tag-greenland","tag-kingdom-of-denmark","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-red-lobster","tag-robert-kiyosaki","tag-tom-dans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116801250776626104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}