U.S. Amps Up Spying on Greenland and Denmark as Trump Covets New Territory

U.S. quality agencies were ordered past week to absorption much attraction connected spying connected Greenland and Denmark, 2 longtime American allies, according to a caller study from the Wall Street Journal. The bid came from 2 high-ranking officials nether Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to the newspaper, arsenic President Donald Trump continues to accidental helium wants to instrumentality Greenland 1 mode oregon another.

The spying order, known arsenic a “collection accent message,” was sent to the heads of U.S. quality agencies instructing the usage of surveillance satellites, wiretaps, and spies to stitchery accusation successful Greenland and Denmark, according to the Journal. The extremity is to larn much accusation astir immoderate radical who whitethorn beryllium sympathetic to Trump’s quest to instrumentality implicit Greenland, an autonomous territory successful the Kingdom of Denmark.

Identifying locals who whitethorn similar Trump and his peculiar marque of fascism would presumably let the U.S. to supply those radical with enactment and boost their connection astir the world. This benignant of strategy was tremendously fashionable during the Cold War, arsenic the U.S. invested heavy successful amplifying anti-Soviet sentiment, sometimes going truthful acold arsenic to invent fake writers to look successful newspapers.

The caller instructions to absorption connected Greenland are classified, according to the Journal, which cites 2 “people acquainted with the matter.” And Tulsi Gabbard, an extremist who pretends to beryllium an isolationist, focused connected the classified quality of the bid erstwhile responding to the newspaper’s petition for comment.

“The Wall Street Journal should beryllium ashamed of aiding heavy authorities actors who question to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information,” Gabbard said. “They are breaking the instrumentality and undermining our nation’s information and democracy.”

Greenland, an land of conscionable 56,000 people, archetypal became a fixation of Trump’s during his archetypal word arsenic president successful 2019 erstwhile helium reportedly wanted to speech with Denmark astir taking implicit the country. News of Trump’s involvement successful Greenland leaked to the press, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she had nary involvement successful talking astir it. Trump acted similar a petulant kid implicit the matter, arsenic helium truthful often does, canceling a meeting betwixt the 2 satellite leaders. Trump aboriginal tweeted an image of a Trump Tower successful Greenland with the message, “I committedness not to bash this to Greenland!”

I committedness not to bash this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019

Trump’s obsession with taking implicit Greenland came backmost into afloat unit aft helium won the 2024 statesmanlike election. JD Vance adjacent traveled to Greenland successful March to marque an highly insulting speech to American allies, claiming that Denmark hadn’t been a bully protector of the island. Trump has repeatedly tried to suggest that America would instrumentality amended attraction of Greenland, with a caller New York Times study suggesting the White House whitethorn effort to interval a $10,000 annual payment to each Greenlanders arsenic a signifier of cosmopolitan basal income.

Trump has besides pushed retired a propaganda video that insists it’s portion of Greenland’s “destiny” to go portion of the United States. But Greenlanders themselves person nary involvement successful becoming portion of the U.S., according to sentiment polls. Eighty-five percent of Greenlanders don’t privation to articulation the U.S., with conscionable 6% successful favour and 9% undecided, according to the Guardian.

Trump has antecedently said that helium thinks helium tin person the radical of Greenland that it’s a bully woody for the state to beryllium conquered by the U.S., and this caller spying effort seems similar it volition beryllium portion of a propaganda propulsion conscionable implicit the horizon. Trump was asked during an interrogation connected Meet the Press this past Sunday whether helium would regularisation retired utilizing unit against Greenland.

“I don’t regularisation it out,” Trump told NBC News. “I don’t accidental I’m going to bash it, but I don’t regularisation retired anything. No, not there. We request Greenland precise badly. Greenland is simply a precise tiny magnitude of people, which we’ll instrumentality attraction of, and we’ll cherish them, and each of that. But we request that for planetary security.”

Even if Trump doesn’t get buy-in, it seems apt he’ll effort to marque a play for the land successful immoderate manner earlier helium leaves office. And it’s not similar he’s hiding his goals. The president has been accordant successful saying that he’s going to person Greenland eventually.

“We request Greenland for nationalist information and adjacent planetary security, and we’re moving with everybody progressive to effort and get it,” Trump said successful March portion speaking to Congress for the full satellite to hear. “One mode oregon the other, we’re going to get it.”