{"id":117777,"date":"2026-06-28T08:05:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T08:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/117777\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T08:05:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T08:05:29","slug":"trump-appointee-argued-the-us-could-take-greenland-and-its-seafood-to-save-endless-shrimp-at-red-lobster-report-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/117777\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump appointee argued the US could take Greenland and its seafood to save endless shrimp at Red Lobster: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration has made multiple cases for acquiring Greenland, pointing to strategic security interests<\/a>, untapped mineral wealth<\/a> and what it describes as Denmark\u2019s inadequate stewardship<\/a> of the vast Arctic territory.<\/p>\n

Now, a much stranger justification has entered the mix: that by taking control of Greenland\u2019s seafood industry, the U.S. could secure a limitless pipeline of shrimp for Red Lobster<\/a> customers.<\/p>\n

Tom Dans, the Trump-appointed chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission, made that pitch earlier this year, back when the billionaire president\u2019s desire to annex the world\u2019s largest island<\/a> dominated headlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy 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,\u201d he told The New Yorker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The company, which boasts hundreds of locations across the country, scrapped its \u201cendless shrimp\u201d promotion in 2024 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The promotion has since returned to the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Trump appointee argued that, by taking over Greenland and its seafood industry, the US could bring back ‘all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster,’ according to a new report (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Dans, a one-time pecan farmer and venture capitalist, is one of a small group of Americans the Danish government has identified as spearheading \u201cinfluence operations\u201d in Greenland, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n

He previously worked at the Treasury Department<\/a> during Trump\u2019s first term and served on a National Security Council task force focused on gaining control of the territory of roughly 57,000 people.<\/p>\n

Despite never having set foot in Greenland, Dans insisted that U.S. acquisition of the territory \u2014 which would eclipse the Louisiana Purchase in scale \u2014 is a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing secret about the contours of the thing \u2014 if you study Greenland at all, you quickly arrive at the point that, you know, they\u2019re asset rich and cash poor,\u201d he told The New Yorker. \u201cSo, like, this is not a toughie, if you come from an investment-banking or dealmaking background, to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a demonstration that gathered almost a third of the city population to protest against the US President’s plans to take Greenland, on January 17, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Trump initially floated the idea of incorporating Greenland as a U.S. state during his first term, but it was only after he returned to office last year that his rhetoric on the issue intensified dramatically.<\/p>\n

The 80-year-old president has claimed that Denmark \u2014 which signed a 1951 treaty allowing the U.S. to build bases in Greenland \u2014 has not done enough to bolster the island’s defenses, dismissing its military assets there as \u201ctwo dog sleds.\u201d He\u2019s argued that the U.S. needs to “own” Greenland to prevent Russia and China from seizing it, along with its vast mineral resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100 percent,\u201d he told NBC News last March.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a good possibility it could be done without military force,\u201d he said before adding: \u201cI don’t take anything off the table<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This hostile language, which was parroted by other administration officials<\/a>, was met with alarm and condemnation across Greenland, Denmark and much of Europe.<\/p>\n

In January, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she \u201cstrongly\u201d urged the U.S. \u201cto cease its threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and another people who have stated very clearly that they are not for sale.\u201d Soon after, the Danish military reportedly began flying troops to the island<\/a> in preparation for an attack.<\/p>\n

Later in January, during a trip to Switzerland, the American president appeared to soften his stance on Greenland<\/a>, stating that he would not seek to annex the territory with military force, but called for \u201cimmediate negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance visited a US base in Greenland in March, during which he discussed beefing up Greenland’s security (Getty)<\/p>\n

Since then, the thorny issue has largely fallen out of the spotlight as the Iran war<\/a>, launched in February, has dominated U.S. foreign policy conversations.<\/p>\n

Still, the Republican president occasionally returns to the push \u2014 often as a justification for his hostility toward NATO.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all began with, if you want to know the truth, Greenland,\u201d Trump said<\/a> during a press conference in April. \u201cWe want Greenland. They don\u2019t want to give it to us. And I said, \u2018bye, bye.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The following month, The New York Times reported that senior administration officials have been holding closed-door meetings with negotiators from Greenland and Denmark<\/a> about the future of the Arctic island \u2014 indicating the president\u2019s interest in that region remains steadfast.<\/p>\n

A majority of Americans, 86 percent, oppose the U.S. taking over Greenland by force, according to a January Quinnipiac survey. The overwhelming majority of Greenland\u2019s residents are also opposed, according to recent polls.<\/p>\n

The Independent has reached out to the United States Arctic Research Commission for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration has made multiple cases for acquiring Greenland, pointing to strategic security interests, untapped mineral wealth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[57,1515,56913,57101,10846],"class_list":["post-117777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-greenland","tag-nuuk","tag-red-lobster","tag-seafood-industry","tag-the-trump"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116826704208800844","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117777","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=117777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}