The Wall Street Journal editorial board delivered a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump's escalating rhetoric over Greenland, warning that his invasion threats are backfiring and handing Russian President Vladimir Putin a golden opportunity.
The conservative board penned the piece Tuesday with the blunt title: "Invade Greenland? Why?" The editors wrote that while Trump has "good strategic instincts" about Greenland, they called it "regrettable" that his interest is "devolving into a self-defeating exercise in U.S. bullying."
The board agreed that the U.S. has legitimate strategic concerns, including its vital submarine lanes, missile-defense radars, and rare-earth mineral reserves. However, the board flatly rejected the notion of military force.
"The invasion talk is probably Trumpian bluster to prod a negotiation to buy the island or end up with some other expanded U.S. presence. But even the suggestion of force is damaging America’s interests across the Atlantic," the board lamented.
A major problem, according to the editorial, is that the Trump White House, including presidential adviser Stephen Miller, refused to rule out military action, crossing a dangerous line. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made it clear that if the United States attacked a NATO ally militarily, "everything will come to an end." That includes NATO itself.
To boot, it would give Putin a big win on a silver platter.
"But feuding with friends over Greenland is giving Vladimir Putin another wedge to divide America from Europe to his benefit. That means less U.S. leverage for driving a good and durable Ukraine settlement," the board warned.
They pointed to a corollary that successful presidents "don't reduce America's role to the world to might-makes-right."
"Maybe the Greenland affair is merely what now passes for online MAGA entertainment. But Mr. Trump would help his own cause in every hemisphere if he dropped the invade-Greenland routine," the board said.