Greenland: Vance warns Europe to take Trump 'seriously'
1d 18h ago by lemmy.world/u/MicroWave in world from www.dw.com
JD Vance on Thursday accused Denmark — a fellow NATO member — and the rest of Europe of failing to protect Greenland from the intentions of Russia and China.
"I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously," Vance told journalists at the White House when asked about Greenland.
After the US military successfully captured Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro last weekend, Donald Trump renewed his push to acquire Greenland, with the use of military force not out of the question.
Vance especially urged Europe to respond to Trump's insistence that the United States needs the island for "missile defense."
Danish troops are instructed to fire on invading US forces without asking for orders first.
Somehow, I think they're taking him seriously.
Literally the reason they got Maduro is no one thought they'd be stupid enough to try this.
Because the fact is, military crossing borders accidentally is pretty common, now when US troops do it, they're getting capped because they're a credible threat, even if an ally.
military crossing borders accidentally is pretty common
"Accidentally," yes. Actually accidentally, very rare. One thing the military knows very well is where their assets are.
The only reason they got Maduro is that the Venezuelan army is riddled with traitors and Maduro's nr3 deserted few years ago and is now in the US betraying his country for money and using his pull to give the US contacts. Worse, they murdered 80 people in cold blood, of which civilians. The whole operation is anything but impressive.
Why wouldn't they shoot first? the US publicly announced that when they are there they will be there as an invader not an ally, more important is the question how will the EU react when they attack, will they help or say we have to strengthen our own borders, Germany won't do shit anyway, they've been America's bitch for the past 80+ years, Hungary is leaning towards Putin, Poland is busy worrying about Putin invading them after Ukraine, the French are busy with internal turmoil and the small Balkan countries can't come together for anything else except drinking, i know i'm from one of them, so who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters?
They would probably be more helpful than whatever the EU can muster at the moment and it's not like the known corrupt corpo puppet von der Leyen will resist or offer any decisive plan against her pal Trump.
If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?
If they were they would expel every US appointment immediately and prepare for invasion. I dont see that happening.
And preemptively break their NATO treaty obligations? The Danes aren't shady backstabbers like us Americans, they're going to let us break the treaty first.
You know, basically act like our allies. Which they are, until we break the relationship.
You go ahead and turn the other cheek so trump can black both your eyes amd take your land while hes at it. Backstabbing would be doing it for no reason. You have been threatened. This is self defence. Which unsuprisingly is not something europeans are very good at. As shown by your strongly worded letter in the face of multiple terrorist nations targetting you, and unwillingness to do amything against russia. Hell homny years did it take you all to stop buying thier gas after they attacked ukraine. Im sure another strongly worded letter will definately stop the us from invading your country or kidnapping your leaders. The us is ally to NO ONE anymore. Get that through your thick frozen skulls
...........so you don't understand treaties, or international relations, or anything like that?
You don't see why Denmark preemptively violating the NATO charter weakens their position on the international stage considerably?
Also, I'm in the US. Like I indicated in the previous comment.
You absolute idiot.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/09/trump-greenland-military-denmark-nato.html
No i dont
That article doesn't give a single reason why it would be advantageous for Denmark to preemptively break the treaty.
You realize that treaties have legal repercussions built into them if they're broken, right? And that Denmark is waiting for us to incur those repercussions (like sanctions), rather than them?
If they're potentially fighting an invasion, why would they want to trigger additional hardships for themselves by breaking the treaty?
You really haven't thought about any of this, holy shit.
You’re confidently missing the point.
No one is saying Denmark should “break the treaty for fun.” The argument is about strategic preemption, not vibes. Treaties aren’t magic shields, they’re conditional frameworks that already collapse the moment an invasion happens. Yes, treaties have repercussions. That’s exactly why the discussion exists. Sanctions vs. occupation is not a hard comparison. One hurts your economy; the other erases your sovereignty. Pretending those are equivalent outcomes is absurd. And “waiting for us to incur repercussions” only makes sense if waiting actually improves Denmark’s position. If an invasion is imminent, waiting doesn’t preserve legality, it just burns time and leverage.
Also, international law explicitly allows anticipatory self-defense under imminent threat. This isn’t some Reddit-brained loophole; it’s been debated for decades. You acting like no one’s considered that doesn’t make it true.
So yeah — people have thought about this. You just seem locked into a cartoon version of how treaties and warfare actually work.
Please explain how this meets the "last window of opportunity" restriction on anticipatory self-defense.
take twump vewy sewiouswy! he's gonna be weally big mad!
As soon as Trump actually does take Greenland: "Did you even say thank you?!"
HAVE you EVEN said THANK YOU??
Yet there's still a US base on Greenland because why? Surely step one is to kick them out.
The point is to demonstrate that they're still willing to cooperate, like allies. The only thing that will change that, are the US's own actions.
Treaty reason and NATO Policy Planning. Greenland is a very strategically important location and the increase interest in the Arctic only increased that.
In effect the Troops can only be removed if the US is removed from NATO (aka NATO Disbanded.)
I don't know about our politician, but the population surely is taking him seriously... i am living near an american base in germany and i can assure anyone: Americans are really not popular with the local population right now, and at the moment its a really, really bad idea to enter some establishments in uniform.
Some of us are very sorry that our country, particularly our leadership, is a giant fuckwad and we would put a stop to it if we could.
Nobody's going to swoop in and do it for us. If we want them to stop, we have to make them stop.
But you can. You just have to believe in yourselves.
Guy we dont take seriously asks us to take a clown seriously.
I'm not European, but my country is in NATO and we will be called upon to defend Greenland if the US should invade. JD, I want you to know that I take every fucking thing that Trump says seriously. Whenever he or you or that nosferatu-looking piece of shit miller say something stupid or evil, I completely believe you. Never do I think you fuckwits are bluffing or joking or whatever. I honestly believe, with my whole being, that you are the evil motherfuckers that you say you are.
That being said, I still don't intend to comply.
It's important to understand that a VAST majority of Americans are against this, and are going to resist this action strongly. There are even high-ranking MAGAs who are speaking loudly against it.
There is only a tiny number of people who want this, probably less than 5. If they try it, they will have very little support for it. And most of that will dry up quickly when American soldiers start dying for Greenland, which nobody wanted in the first place.
People keep saying this, but it doesn't make a damn bit of difference
I really hope you're right. Great parts of X seem to be all for it, and usual right wing influencers are also onboard.
you are the VICE president. you have NO POWER. you are a spare and a tie-breaker. that is all.
Oh come on, he has power, he's the podcaster-in-chief!
For the last 10 yeas everyday I've been looking at the paper with constant headlines of Russia and China taking over Greenland and imposing their will...
Oh wait, not even once have I ever seen this problem.
Well they can't just come right out and say we want the warming, Artic shipping lanes and rare earth minerals.
Respect my authority
You better respect the couch man's authority or else he will come to your home and fuck your couch.
Dear Mr Vance, go fuck a couch and stop shitting out of your mouth.
They are. And the answer is still "no".
We are taking him seriously, that's why we're improving our defences and strengthening our resolve to defend ourselves from military aggression.
Would Europe and her allies "win" a war with the USA? Difficult to say, depends what the win conditions are. Maybe not.
But she's got enough strength to make it a many years long affair, ending in nukes if up against the wall. Europe may not win, but it'll be a pyrrhic victory for the invaders.
Hopefully that knowledge will persuade the USA not to wage war against us. The best outcome is peace and international cooperation through mutual trust and a strong moral center.
We can only hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Personally, I think it would be a contest of raw strength vs endurance. I think that the EU has healthier trade and diplomacy than the USA, while the US starts out with lots of hardware and troops - but the logistics chain would start snapping within a year or two. Militaries are not just the possession of assets, but the regeneration and growth of them.
Kinda like how Ukraine with economic support has been able to confront Russia.
It will be Russia invading Europe and China with Taiwan while the usa takes the western continent.
That’s their plan.
You’ll be busy with Russia when it happens.
Yeah, we (every European country) should acquire nukes and show in a very public way they are aimed to Mar-a-Lago.
I wish our entire government could disappear and we could start over without any Israeli or corporate influence
Vance knows he will never be taken seriously.
At least Pence had some pushback and opinions about Trump's antics. Vance literally crawls out of Trump's ass everyday just so he can kiss it before he crawls back in.
Really sympathetic to his mother for trading him for a couple perc pills. She knew bad vibes when she saw them
Theil thinks it's cute when he acts all tough. Really turns him on.
They know just how bad it will look and how unpopular it will be if they just take Greenland by force. They’re trying to convince the Danes to sell it under duress to give it a veneer of legitimacy.
Vance especially urged Europe to respond to Trump's insistence that the United States needs the island for "missile defense."
Missile defense? Against whom, exactly‽
Giving it to him probably just presents an advantageous position to move on the EU, when he lets corporations melt Greenland for resources and decides he wants that next. He'll probably start with the U.K since it already foolishly excused itself from the group.
In slightly more seriousness (because my previous idea sadly isn't out of the question in clown-world, stupid as it was.)
China or Russia is the obvious one to want to defend against, but why so desperate as to break existing alliances to do it by force?
The entire world started posturing up and increasing defense spending dramatically largely in response to the Orange Bully's peacocking all over the place.
It's going down in history that this bastard and his sycophantic simps are literally responsible for stoking WWIII, all because a rich child-raper couldn't fathom the inside of a jail cell.
I think they are taking him seriously, no?
Must've seen an example of the "good cop, bad cop" act on TV while trying to turn a couch into a loveseat with the ol' Netflix and chill.
Ok, sanctions then?
I really like Doctorow's suggestion of repealing anti-circumvention laws. The US tech sector would likely cave very quickly.
Hey Greenland, JD Vance desperately wants you. this is an emergency: order slipcovers for all your sofas, now while you still can
Were he doing it for actual-security, he'd just do it, & not make a macho-show out of it.
The fact that it's now a macho-show, means this is part of his need for "respect", & it'll be one-upped as soon as it's done, and that ( the subsequent annexation-of-Canada ) will be one-upped ( by doing to Canada what Putin's been doing to Ukraine ), next, etc..
Perpetual-escalation.
Until the US is .. finished.
But so long as nobody after Trump is "important", then .. he wins!
Understand the game, the rules that some unconscious-minds play.
It'll happen, & nothing will prevent it, or stop it.
Same with his war on Canada, later.
Tipping-point's in 2026, probably early.
Prep or get popcorn, whichever you feel is more effective.
_ /\ _
Something could definitely stop it. Trump's not going to live long enough to do as much harm as he wants.
Vance especially urged Europe to respond to Trump's insistence that the United States needs the island for "missile defense."
Here is a response: fuck you and die you traitorous, murderous scumbag
Clowns are not to be taken serious.
Tell that to Batman.
There is a legit criminal in the White House, clown or otherwise, and we should be taking it as seriously as Bats does the Joker.
Batman is the clown.
Ultra rich guy, doesn't pay taxes probably, uses his fortune to fight (while wearing a stupid costume) the ones revolting to survive and and fight the system, while he could have rizen the poverty level and reduce crime rates if he were to pay taxes, build community centers, pay fair wages, improved health care and education, etc.
The joker is a product of the system oppressing the general public, kept alive by people like Bruce Wayne out of greed.
I mean, I get you. Bruce Wayne is a capitalist, but depending on the writers, his philanthropy is incredibly deep and he's doing the best he can, crazy as he is.
But you (deliberately?) missed the surface level message I was going for. You don't turn your back on the Joker and you take him seriously.
And even if Bats is also a clown, are you saying you wouldn't take him seriously if he started causing havoc?
The joker may be dressed as a clown but does not behave like one.
and he's doing the best he can, crazy as he is.
He's clearly not, as he is a big part of why so many live in poverty and crime rates are so high. He's causing people to suffer and starve and then fights them when they are forces into crime and/or won't/can't get the mental help they desperately need.
When you tax the rich you can raise the overall quality of living of everyone, lowering crime rates, increasing health care and education and the rest of society with it.
Bruce Wayne would do his best if he would use his fortune to help people instead of fighting them.
It's the whole difference between the US and Norway. The US is the fucked up dystopian world from the batman universe where as Norway head more in the direction of Star Trek where people are happy, have basic needs all taken care of, are healthy and well educated, low crime rates, amazing incarceration system with only 15 to 20% of criminals to return back to prison (which is over 80% in the US), proper infrastructure, proper living situations, etc.
Sounds an awful lot like you're taking Batman, a person you said was a clown, seriously.
How did you come to that conclusion?
I see him as a selfish egocentric rich asshole and a part of the case and enforcement of the big issue at hand (instead of the solution), I don't take his superhero and victimrole bullshit serious at all. I see right through it. He's just like Elon Musk and Trump.
The fact that I'm worried about people like this because they are way to powerful and dangerous doesn't mean I take anything they say serious. I see them as a serious threat to society. And underage girls.
Ah. There it is. The distinction you're making that wasn't clear. You don't take what they say seriously, but you take them seriously otherwise.
Well, let me tell you, when a despot says they're going to do something despicable, it doesn't matter whether they're wearing clown makeup when they do so.
Indeed, Trump and Musk are clowns in plain clothes.
Then Europe gonna tell him to take Europe even more serious.
What a pig.
Don't worry, Europe sees what you are doing to your own citizens, Europe will.
Will.... What?
Reading comprehension, huh.
Or else.