The Greenland Crisis and Just War Theory

Weak conclusion.

His point: Trump has no just cause for this aggression over Greenland. Right on

His conclusion: Therefore what we should do is study just war theory more… what????? How does that follow?

New Conclusion: Vote in the right kind of congressional candidates so that Congress grows a backbone and impeach the president, although JD Vance is just as off the charts.

Midterms are going to be a wake up call for Trump

....that prior to this, I'd have guessed that if Trump said "hey, we'd really like to have another set of bases to improve our ability to detect and intercept Russian ICBMs and such", the Greenlanders would have said "let us know where you need them, how much land you'll need, and what services you'll want there--we'll be glad to negotiate another 99 year lease.". Now I'm not so sure, and the people of North America could pay a brutal price for Trump's foolishness.

Even with all the obnoxious rhetoric, what I hear from the Danish side is they want the Americans to restaff the bases they already have there. There is no security threat that is not "Made in America" - the Americans have drawn down those bases and have no need to ask permission to build them back up.

It is funny to observe this. Since 1946, the US has not cared about acquiring Greenland. Then Trump shows some interest in his first term and most people brush it off. Second term, and he puts out a forceful tweet, then you have all of these conservative commentators come out of the woodwork saying how important it is to seize Greenland. There is just this unbelievable need for a large number of influential people (media, business and Congress) to just fall in line with whatever crazy idea Trump has. Trump doesn't really care about having a discussion with the American people, or laying out a plan. In fact, you could argue the need for Greenland goes against his core principles while campaigning.

....I don't think the U.S. ought to consider making Greenland into a territory, let alone a state. Like Ukraine, they have their own language and culture and political traditions, and hence trying to govern Greenland from Washington DC would only engender resentment. Far better to partner with them in areas (thanks, Don) where they are generally eager already.

The fact that so many people haven't yet learned to take President Trump seriously but not literally is astonishing to me. The man is never not negotiating.

Try “bullying” instead. Trump doesn’t know the first thing about negotiating

Paul, Trump thinks he's negotiating, but really a large portion of the world sees it as bullying, and quite frankly, the six business bankruptcies his businesses have had suggest he's not as good a businessman or negotiator as he'd like to think. He's gotten in way over his head a lot, and he's unfortunately not learning his lessons.

In the case of Greenland, one of the rules of negotiation is "never ask for something you're not willing to accept". If the bullying--threats of tariffs & war--had worked, the United States would have been stuck with a large territory that would be an obvious target of Russia, and one where a great portion of the population would resent their inclusion in the United States.

So like Don notes, Trump really knows a lot more about bullying than he does about negotiation. You'll also see it in his immigration approach--yes, too many ICE officers are more than willing to just crack heads, but if you want long term support for your policies, you've got to reach across the aisle. He's blown it for a long time with about a third of the population.

Put it in this context. When you are on a car lot, do you like dealing with the high pressure sales types? I don't. I've walked away from cars I liked because the salesman was a jerk.

Through the years, I supported our ministry in various kinds of sales. Negotiation is truly an art, you are trying to help buyer and seller achieve their goals together, hopefully in a way that maximizes benefit for both (most of my time was in real estate, but I've done other sales as well). The true negotiator finds a way for both parties to see the deal as a win. Sometimes one or both parties get themselves out on a limb where to back down is somewhat humiliating. A good negotiator knows how to help them adjust without losing face (most of the time... some guys just stay out there on the limb and the deal doesn't get done).

Anyway, I have never subscribed to the notion that Trump is a good negotiator or a good businessman. He's had a lot of money/property behind him and can bully people into deals but a lot of broken relationships end up in the wake.

Trump's negotiation technique is really as follows:

• Create some leverage, preferable one that is painful to the other party
• Use force (either physically, verbally, or with a form of scare tactic) to initially exploit that leverage, with a type of "shock and awe"
• Use the fear present in the other party to get more from the other party than otherwise would have been possible.
• Be willing to accept a lower concession than was initially laid out. It is a type of ask for the moon so that when you settle at less, you get what you actually wanted.
• Always be viewed as coming out on top, regardless of the actual outcome

This is his playbook. He says he is going to put in 100% tariffs on China to scare them to the table. He isn't going to actually put in those tariffs, as seen by his backpedaling. Force China to the table, get some concessions, actually put in 10% tariffs and then say that you have negotiated the best trade deal in history (use of hyperbole - he is always saying the best or worse in history - regardless of the actual truth). In reality the trade deal we got with China is actually worse than we had under Biden if you look at the details, and in the end farmers, such as Soybean farmers were wiped out. The tariffs are actually a tax on the American Public, and then Trump turns around and uses these new taxes that he just put onto the American Public to send to the Soybean farmers to bail them out of the disaster that the trade deal created. It is reported on, but is mostly ignored and everyone in the White House pushes the narrative he is the Deal Maker in Chief, when in reality it is a terrible deal. Long term, China has actually increased their trade with other countries, including our enemies and is actually trading at a greater surplus than prior to the trade deal and in the end we still are loosing manufacturing jobs in 2025, with just as bleak as a forecast in 2026.

Now he wants to slap Canada with 100% tariffs. He is totally unhinged. First, tariffs have a special purpose written into law (that the Supreme Court is now reviewing), he is just using them as enforcement tools to bend countries to his will on whatever is his latest concern or desire. If he is going to slap everyone with tariffs and bully people, than people will just go to the largest manufacturer in the world and negotiate with no tariffs. Unbeknownst to Trump, because he is a narcissist, he is rapidly eroding the US's place in the world. He is quickly devaluing the dollar, reducing the US's role in the world, reducing the desire for American products, hurting the farmers, increasing the cost of products.... all being born disproportionally by the very constituents who elected him. And they are all cheering him on, while their foundation is crumbling.

The more this keeps up, the less support he will have. I am not a prophet but I expect midterm results to be very disappointing to conservatives

The more this keeps up, the less support he will have. I am not a prophet but I expect midterm results to be very disappointing to conservatives

Ah, but the devoted Trump conservatives won't be disappointed with any losses. They will be outraged about the cheating that must have happened for them to have lost and they simply won't acknowledge the reality of the losses.

I never said he was a good negotiator, not do I think he cares how he's perceived by the rest of the world. So what if Canadians think he's a bully? Does he get concessions that benefits the US (or that he believes will benefit the US)? That seems to be what he values. I say disregard that to your own peril.

As far as the midterms go, it's pretty much a truism that midterm elections go against the party in the White House. It's also pretty obvious that President Trump doesn't really care about helping Republicans win generally. Then again, GOP politicians are also really good at giving away every advantage and doing virtually nothing when they do have power, so I'm not sure how much the losses will be due to the President's influence vs the GOP's general ineffectiveness and/or duplicity.