MAGA’s March of Folly Into Greenland Is a Historic Catastrophe
INSIDE: Marco Rubio ... Enrique Tarrio ... Lindsey Halligan
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
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Trump’s New Darwinian World Order
The prospect of a U.S. takeover of Greenland is so patently absurd on its face that it’s easy to dissolve into the laughter and ridicule that the JD Vance photo above invites. Yet, after the removal of Maduro in Venezuela, a Greenland territorial grab is such an increasingly real threat that it’s probably best to sober ourselves up by framing the risk around the broader geo-strategic context.
It’s not just the performative dick-swinging that is the dangling subtext to all of Trump foreign policy that is driving this new imperative. Nor is it Greenland’s nontrivial strategic value. It’s not even limited to the grand, Russia-backed weakening of the post-World War II geopolitical order centered on NATO, though it is of course all of the above, too.
Rather, it is a broader assault on the reordering of the relationship among nations that emerged following the First World War, when war-shattered countries moved toward replacing brute force and Darwinian principles with something approaching a principled, rules-based order to foreign relations — or at least an aspiration in that direction. The failures of the past century to live up to those aspirations consistently are legion, but they don’t negate the importance of the shift.
Trump has a childlike fascination with the great power politics that predated the current world order, and his foreign policy is broadly centering on organizing the globe into three spheres of influence — American, Russian, and Chinese — in which the leading powers largely have free rein.
It’s not surprising that Trump would envision the world as divided between the dominant and the dominated, and yet there remains an unbearable tension implicit in his view: The United States has dominated and thrived in the current world order, and dismantling it is so contrary to the U.S. national interest that it introduces the wildcard of Trump’s personal interest as a parallel driving force.
Before we dive into the latest development, let me refer you to three current renderings of this broader context for Trump’s Greenland bullying:
Casey Michel: Annexing Greenland Would Be a Strategic Catastrophe
Oona A. Hathaway: The Great Unraveling Has Begun
Ishaan Tharoor: The crisis over Greenland is here
A final point: Much damage has already been done by this escapade, even if it turns out to have only been a feint. It’s called into question the reliability of the U.S. as an ally, the durability of U.S. treaty obligations, and the commitment of the United States to its previously long-held values and principles. The issue isn’t just whether the U.S. takes the final step toward hostilities with a NATO ally; it’s already engaging in hostile conduct.
How Imminent?
I don’t judge the risk of U.S. annexation of Greenland based on the temperature of Trump White House rhetoric but on the level of alarm from Europeans. It is high.
Latest Saber-rattling
Conflicting signals continued to emanate Tuesday from the Trump administration about the exact mechanism for a U.S. annexation:
The White House said that “utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option, and U.S. officials said that Trump has asked for an updated plan for acquiring Greenland.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on the Hill that Trump plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, though he offered no details for such a transaction, especially in light of Denmark’s understandable refusal to concede any of its territory.
The Key: Republicans in Congress
Relying on Republicans in Congress to rein in the worst of Trump’s impulses offers thin assurance, but there are some signs that a strain of anti-interventionism still persists in the GOP ranks. Still, the worst of MAGA remains ascendant:
Venezuela Aftermath
NEW: U.S. military forces boarded an oil tanker in the Atlantic south of Iceland that was en route to Murmansk, Russia, after being foiled by the U.S. blockade of Venezuela, the WSJ reports. The tanker had been stateless a week ago but was quickly reflagged as a Russian vessel. Russia had reportedly dispatched naval assets, including a submarine, to escort the vessel, but it’s not clear whether they had arrived on the scene before the U.S. launched its operation to seize the vessel.
Oil: In a social media post, President Trump unilaterally declared that Venezuela will give the United States 30-50 million barrels of oil (for context, the U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels a day) and that he will personally control the proceeds of the oil: “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”
OLC: The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel continues to be a rubber stamp for President Trump’s maximalist assertions of executive power, reportedly cranking out a memo that declared it lawful for him to order the seizure of President Maduro.
Turbocharging Jan. 6 Revisionism
The far-right – including the Trump White House – counter-programmed the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack with a new round of revisionism:
The Trump White House rolled out a brazenly false new webpage that cast the Jan. 6 attack as a “peaceful protest,” labeled Democrats as the “real insurrectionists,” and baselessly accused Capitol Police of “deliberately escalating tensions.”
The Trump White House’s revisionist webpage included a wild new claim: that Deep State elements conspired to assassinate him.
In a gathering of former Jan. 6 defendants on the Ellipse, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio — convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the attack before given clemency by Trump — called for “retribution” against the media, prosecutors, investigators, and judges.
Judge Demands to Know Why Lindsey Halligan Is Still Cosplaying as U.S. Attorney
In a new order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Novak of Richmond demanded an explanation from Trump crony Lindsey Halligan within seven days for why she continues to identify herself as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia:
She shall also set forth the reasons why this Court should not strike Ms. Halligan’s identification of herself as United States Attorney from the indictment in this matter. Ms. Halligan shall further explain why her identification does not constitute a false or misleading statement.
Novak’s order comes six weeks after U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Halligan was invalidly appointed as interim U.S. attorney. The Trump DOJ has appealed that adverse ruling, but Novak noted in his order that the ruling has not been stayed and “remains the binding precedent in this district and is not subject to being ignored.”
In Novak’s order, which came in a run-of-the-mill criminal case, he raises the prospect of referring Halligan for disciplinary proceedings for violating the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct.
The Destruction: Vaccine Edition
CDC staff was blindsided by the unscientific, unilateral decision made out outside of normal processes to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11.
The House GOP’s Ever-Narrowing Majority
With the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and the hospitalization of Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN) after a serious car accident that also injured his wife, the House GOP majority is down to a bare 218 votes. The latest unexpected developments came after the expected resignation this week of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Republicans may be stuck with the zero-margin-of-error 218-vote majority until March, when a special election is held for Greene’s seat.
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"It’s not just the performative dick-swinging that is the dangling subtext to all of Trump foreign policy that is driving this new imperative."
This is a perfect sentence.
In what universe are countries for sale? Trump/Rubio talk as if they are playing a game of Monopoly, only with real world consequences. Do they know how absurd they sound? Do they care?