this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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Summary

Germany and France criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after he refused to rule out military or economic actions to acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory and part of the EU and NATO.

Germany stressed borders must not be changed by force, citing the UN Charter, while France warned against threats to EU sovereignty.

Trump defended his position on national security grounds, proposing tariffs on Denmark if it resists.

Denmark and Greenland rejected the idea, with Greenland's leader reiterating its desire for independence, not U.S. annexation.

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[–] PorradaVFR 40 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Hey remember the claims that nobody respected us under President Biden?

They did. They trusted and collaborated with us. So much for that for a while.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

For Trump, others 'respect' is groveling and subservience.

Trust and collaboration are never what he wants. That leaves room for him to not get his way.

What he fails to grasp is that people can act like they're subservient to you while making you a useful idiot, especially when you're as easily manipulated as he is.

And this is precisely why world leaders and business leaders are lining up to kiss his ring. Not out of fear, but because they want something and they know how to get it with him.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Christ. We've got at least four more years of this boring bullshit unless the fat orange cunt dies. We can but hope.

[–] DaddleDew 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I was hoping that he would become too senile to lead before that but now I'm realizing it won't be noticeable.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

Have you heard his incoherent ramblings?! He already was too senile to lead in 2016. It's not like that prevented Americans from electing him the first time..

[–] Cheems 2 points 4 days ago

After reading the first part I said how would anyone notice haha

[–] bitchkat 2 points 3 days ago

He would need to die before inauguration or we get Vance.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Well he could drop sooner and be replaced by J D Vance.

[–] bitchkat 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If he dies before the inauguration, the presidency goes to the person who finished second, not his VP.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] bitchkat 1 points 3 days ago

It might have been wishful thinking or a hallucination.

[–] MintyFresh 6 points 3 days ago

This little orange fuck puppet of ours is just seeing what other dictators are doing world wide and hopes to emulate. Xi wants Taiwan, Putin is getting a chunk of Ukraine, Netanyahu gets Palestine.

Our little oompa-lumpa needs Greenland to think himself an equal of these dickbags.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 days ago (6 children)

Hey, Americans, if your government starts invading Panama, Greenland, Canada, etc, what are you going to do about it?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 days ago

Post memes on the internet.

[–] ikidd 7 points 3 days ago

Swallow whatever propaganda is set in front of them like they always fucking do, the credulous numptys.

[–] ChillPenguin 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Protest. But we are owned by corporations and the wealthy. So I doubt it will do much.

[–] PunnyName 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)
[–] ChillPenguin 9 points 4 days ago

I think one of the major issues we have is we are so spread out. It's not like a majority of us can drive a few hours and get to DC to protest. It's a days drive from where I am at.

Our politicians don't feel the pressure they should.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I take issue with comparing the success rate of violent revolutions to non-violent ones. I think that violent revolutions happen when non-violent revolutions are impossible or unfeasible. The fact that they have less success doesn't mean much when trying to do a non-violent revolution would likely have no chance of success.

Historical circumstances will vary and so no single strategy is better for all cases.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

They'll fall in line..

[–] AnUnusualRelic 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's a good thing that they have all those guns to fight tyranny with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Hey, they'll fight whomever the Great Leader tells them is the tyrant!

(I believe the tyrant is currently trans people, poor immigrants, independent women and non-assholes.)

[–] JeeBaiChow 1 points 3 days ago

Sit it out in protest?

[–] Gammelfisch 11 points 3 days ago

Putin's Sock Puppet is using the same excuse as his Moscow bosses for invading Ukraine.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago

We really are Axis now. This guy actually wants to just start invading other nations.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Chinese and Russian astroturfing is paying dividends so early. So much value I'm sure they will 10x the investment for the next election.

[–] JeeBaiChow 2 points 3 days ago

Chump change compared to what his buddies will trap this round.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Trump seems to have become even more prone to picking confrontations.

Now, as for Greenland... I'm fairly sure that the Inuit understand their possible paths.

Denmark -> is a foreign power, but the weakest and most friendly foreign power that is available. If someone wants a career abroad, via Denmark it's possible to access the EU. As part of Denmark, one gets a stable democracy with decent health and social security guarantees, and decent workers' rights.

The US is not a comparable replacement. It's a damaged democracy (part oligarchy) with a problematic electoral system that produces a two-party political landscape. The landscape is currently very polarized. The US is arguably nearing a constitutional crisis due to Trump, the first felon president. In almost every comparison, the US scores high on violence and low on social / medical guarantees - it's the country where cops shoot citizens and citizens shoot health insurance bosses. It has nothing appreciable to offer in terms of workers' rights.

If I were a politician in Greenland, I would offer to join the US - on the condition that Trump successfully commits seppuku. A decent president should be willing to lay his life down for such a big territorial gain. :)

[–] fox2263 9 points 4 days ago

Ah I see. He wants to start a war with NATO so that Russia can help and invade more of Europe.

Probably

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago

You can't make this shit up.

[–] workerONE 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The second trump presidency is like an extinction level event for the country. In four years see if there is anything left. In the meantime yeah the country will be torn apart.

[–] JeeBaiChow 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It seems half of the country wants it, and the other half can't get their act together enough to turn up and vote. So...

[–] P00ptart 3 points 3 days ago

Vote? There is no more vote. Get that shit out of your head. If you ever want to vote again, watch American idol.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Okay...

I'm aware I'm going way out on thin ice with this but I have to ask:

Isn't there a joint military chief staff that actually advises and vetoes military operations on that country?

if my numbers don't fail me:

  • he threatened Panama
  • he threatened Canada
  • he has an off leash whatever threatening the UK
  • he threatened Greenland, Denmark and, by extension, the entire EU

That is at least 5 potential theaters of war, some of which are not exactly helpless punching bags, with the potential to drain millions of lives.

Isn't there a military cabinet to say: $no, those are allies and we will not engage in warfare with allied nations"?

In extreme scenarios, military forces are expected to houst unfit heads of state. Don't the US armed forces have the balls for it?

[–] schteph 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

As much as I understand us military, they are required to follow all orders (like any military, really) except orders that are illegal.

So, if Trump ordered an invasion of Greenland, the military should refuse that order, unless that order also comes with an act of congress declaring war on Greenland. However, Nixon bombed Cambodia without a declaration of war, so I don't know.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Not really.

In my country, military personnel are sworn to uphold the constitution and to the flag.

Back 2012 or something, we had a very unpopular government (we were under IMF management) that rolled over with every single demand the IMF put on the table and then some. The government attempted time after time to pass laws that were blatantly against our constitution and, at some point, in very veilled way, threatned to order the military to supress civil demonstration (mostly peaceful).

The military openly warned against such ideas and remembered the government the military exist to defend the country, its constitution, rule of law and its people, not the political class.

There was a not so small risk of a repeated coup.

So, all of this to say: armed forces serve the country, not politics.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Declarations of war have been a bit passé these last few decades. You can bypass a lot of tedious paperwork by calling it a fight against terrorism, a defense of liberty, a peacekeeping mission, or just a special military operation. If Trump's USA invades us up here in Canada you'll be told we're being liberated from the dictatorship of middle-of-the-road electoral politics and an oppressive woke agenda of tolerance. And if we fight back we'll be an insurgent threat to be neutralised in the cause of freedom. Only when we're either dead from bullets or lack of healthcare, or wearing the straightjacket of corporatist Christofascism, will we be truly free.

[–] filister 1 points 3 days ago

And that's even before his inauguration.

[–] P00ptart 2 points 3 days ago

You forgot mexico.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Can they also please discourage him from invading Canada, Mexico, Panama and (if he does what Musk wants) the UK? Because it's feeling a bit like living next door to Hitler up here.

[–] BenLeMan 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

"Shmermany and Shmance shmiticize nyahh nyaa..."

I'm sick and tired of reading this kind of empty, pointless "news". STOP ENTERTAINING HIS BULLSHIT. It doesn't warrant public debate. Let him know via diplomatic channels it's not gonna happen but don't let him hog the public's attention.

Same with other clowns in the public eye. Don't give them the attention. Point out what's really happening and what people can do about it instead.

You're helping them turn politics into high school drama. Gah. We really are getting stupider as a species.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They should just offer to trade it for Florida.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Who wants Florida? It'll be under water in a few years, and until then it's full of people who thought DeSantis was a good idea.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

That’s sorta the joke.

[–] frunch 4 points 4 days ago

Will they also be donating a cool million to his inauguration though? They aren't gonna get very far with him if they didn't 😬

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

I'll just point out again that the military force thing is a manufactured headline. Reporters at this point know that Trump isn't going to rule out military force in any situation (ruling out military force is for pussies). So any reporters can just ask him "do you rule out military force in order to___" and the answer is always no and they get the headline they want. Easier than real journalism, I guess.