Trump's Canada, Greenland threats put world in more dangerous position — analyst

Rob Huebert, Director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"These are truly very turbulent times. The biggest problem that Canada and other NATO countries are trying to understand regarding the Trump administration is that Trump's statements often don't hold up to any logic. The United States has had the ability to secure any agreements regarding the placement of military bases in Greenland since 1951. Moreover, it was the Americans who effectively took Greenland under their protection during World War II after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. And as for access to strategic mineral resources, the governments of Greenland and Denmark have, on the contrary, repeatedly tried to encourage American companies to come in and participate in developing these deposits. So this logic simply doesn't add up," commented Rob Huebert.

In his view, Trump's statements appear delusional and genuinely undermine the security of the Western world, and ultimately, the United States itself. After all, the key fact is that the Americans already have a military presence in Greenland. That's precisely why this entire narrative seems meaningless.

"But if they actually try to seize Greenland by force, and we're already seeing Denmark and other European allies gradually taking an increasingly firm position, the consequences could be very serious. We risk losing any capability for joint operations to track Russian submarines in the so-called GIUK gap (Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom). At the same time, the U.S. Navy already needs to reorient toward the Chinese theater, because Beijing is closely watching what's happening with America's ability to maintain its alliance system. The Americans cannot do this on their own," the analyst noted.

According to him, the United States is also incapable of effectively tracking Russian submarines alone—especially given how technologically advanced Putin's current submarine fleet is. Ultimately, the U.S., without realizing it, would only weaken a critically important element of collective security.

"Trump is also talking about a possible invasion of Canada. If we imagine that this actually happens, the consequences would be catastrophic: Canada would cease all cooperation with the U.S. in the North American defense system—particularly regarding the protection of the continent's airspace from Russian aerial threats. This is absurd, because the real result of this entire line of behavior would not be a 'strengthened America,' but rather the opposite—significantly weaker security for North America, including the United States. What's more, it would push Putin and Xi toward even more aggressive actions than those they have dared to take so far. So collectively, all of this puts the world in a significantly more dangerous position," Huebert concluded.