U.S. intelligence agencies were ordered last week to focus more attention on spying on Greenland and Denmark, two longtime American allies, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The order came from two high-ranking officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to the newspaper, as President Donald Trump continues to say he wants to take Greenland one way or another.
The spying order, known as a “collection emphasis message,” was sent to the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies instructing the use of surveillance satellites, wiretaps, and spies to gather information in Greenland and Denmark, according to the Journal. The goal is to learn more information about any people who may be sympathetic to Trump’s quest to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.
Identifying locals who may like Trump and his particular brand of fascism would presumably allow the U.S. to provide those people with support and boost their message around the world. This kind of strategy was tremendously popular during the Cold War, as the U.S. invested heavily in amplifying anti-Soviet sentiment, sometimes going so far as to invent fake writers to appear in newspapers.
The new instructions to focus on Greenland are classified, according to the Journal, which cites two “people familiar with the matter.” And Tulsi Gabbard, an extremist who pretends to be an isolationist, focused on the classified nature of the order when responding to the newspaper’s request for comment.
“The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information,” Gabbard said. “They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy.”
Greenland, an island of just 56,000 people, first became a fixation of Trump’s during his first term as president in 2019 when he reportedly wanted to talk with Denmark about taking over the country. News of Trump’s interest in Greenland leaked to the press, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she had no interest in talking about it. Trump acted like a petulant child over the matter, as he so often does, canceling a meeting between the two world leaders. Trump later tweeted an image of a Trump Tower in Greenland with the message, “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”
I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
Trump’s obsession with taking over Greenland came back into full force after he won the 2024 presidential election. JD Vance even traveled to Greenland in March to make an extremely insulting speech to American allies, claiming that Denmark hadn’t been a good protector of the island. Trump has repeatedly tried to suggest that America would take better care of Greenland, with a recent New York Times report suggesting the White House may try to float a $10,000 annual payment to all Greenlanders as a form of universal basic income.
Trump has also pushed out a propaganda video that insists it’s part of Greenland’s “destiny” to become part of the United States. But Greenlanders themselves have no interest in becoming part of the U.S., according to opinion polls. Eighty-five percent of Greenlanders don’t want to join the U.S., with just 6% in favor and 9% undecided, according to the Guardian.
Trump has previously said that he thinks he can convince the people of Greenland that it’s a good deal for the country to be conquered by the U.S., and this new spying effort seems like it will be part of a propaganda push just over the horizon. Trump was asked during an interview on Meet the Press this past Sunday whether he would rule out using force against Greenland.
“I don’t rule it out,” Trump told NBC News. “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”
Even if Trump doesn’t get buy-in, it seems likely he’ll try to make a play for the island in some fashion before he leaves office. And it’s not like he’s hiding his goals. The president has been consistent in saying that he’s going to have Greenland eventually.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said in March while speaking to Congress for the entire world to hear. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
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