Big News: We Aren't Going to Invade Greenland

Susan Estrich
Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:00:00 -0800
Opinion

But Minneapolis is still on the table.

The news out of Davos on Wednesday morning was that President Donald Trump told world leaders that he does not plan to use force to take Greenland.

It's actually a relief to hear him say that, even in bellicose tones, which is a measure of the depth to which we've sunk. After all, for the last two weeks, the administration has studiously avoided ruling out the use of force to capture the territory. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to justify the president's call for tariffs on countries that oppose the United States' acquisition of Greenland, suggesting that tariffs were preferable to some form of armed conflict over the territory. "The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency," Mr. Bessent said, adding that the president was using "the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war."
Updated: Thu Jan 22, 2026

But Minneapolis is still on the table.

The news out of Davos on Wednesday morning was that President Donald Trump told world leaders that he does not plan to use force to take Greenland.

It's actually a relief to hear him say that, even in bellicose tones, which is a measure of the depth to which we've sunk. After all, for the last two weeks, the administration has studiously avoided ruling out the use of force to capture the territory. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to justify the president's call for tariffs on countries that oppose the United States' acquisition of Greenland, suggesting that tariffs were preferable to some form of armed conflict over the territory. "The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency," Mr. Bessent said, adding that the president was using "the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war."

And on Tuesday, when asked how far he will go to acquire the Kingdom of Denmark territory, Trump told reporters, "You'll find out."

He was teasing. What a jokester.

It's almost as unfunny as the social media trip he took the other night until the early morning hours of Tuesday, posting a photoshopped map where Canada and Greenland are part of the United States, along with, later that night, a photo of him, backed by Vance and Rubio, planting the American flag in Greenland, U.S. Territory, Est. 2026; along with leaked texts from European leaders trying to appease his ego and walk him back from the edge.

What does it say about all of us that we are honestly relieved that the man we elected is not about to invade our ally and literally destroy NATO, the 80-year-old alliance that has contributed greatly to what stability we have in the world?

He is that crazy, isn't he?

And what do we do about it? Invoke the 25th Amendment says my friend Ed Markey, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts. Not going to happen. The 25th Amendment would require the majority of Trump's Cabinet to turn on him and declare him unfit to serve. This is the Cabinet with more sycophants per capita — more people who are not there because of their qualifications but because they will be blindly loyal to this crazy man — than any in my memory. They feed his ego, they are the "yes" chorus and if not, they are not long for this world.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the highest-funded law enforcement agency in this country. Did we vote for that? Food stamps are being cut, Medicaid is being cut and the average ICE agent is making $100,000 a year, not necessarily even with a high school degree and they're hiring. He is having his way and tearing this country apart.

What are the checks and balances on this man? A free press, which he is constantly trying to emasculate, last week threatened to sue CBS if they edited an interview with him. We should all be thankful to the courageous federal district judges who have literally put themselves at risk by reining in some of the worst excesses of this administration. However, the Supreme Court still needs to do more to support the judges on the front line. Congress?

There are plenty of Democrats screaming bloody murder and raising campaign funds to run against Donald Trump. Winning the House in the midterms is the surest way to stop this man. Helping Democrats across the country do that is the most important thing those who want to stop Trump can do.

It's not Democratic voices that are missing from the debate, but Republicans, at the local and national level, at least those who are willing to say, as Republican Rand Paul did this week, that Greenland is not an emergency justifying a new round of tariffs. "Emergency powers are for emergencies," Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said on Meet the Press. "There's no emergency with Greenland. That's ridiculous."

Who will say this to Trump? How many people need to protest (3.5% of the population is the tipping point, according to experts)? And will he listen?