By AJ Dellinger Published January 24, 2025 | Comments (0) | A person stands next to an antenna at the Helheim glacier in Greenland. Felipe Dana (AP) One of the challenges with Donald Trumps tendency to say outlandish, implausible things is that it can be difficult to tell when its a distraction and when its serious. Unfortunately for Denmark, it seems that Trumps obsession with taking over Greenland appears to be the latter. According to a report from the Financial Times, a call between Trump and Denmarks prime minister Mette Frederiksen went sideways, and now the Danes are freaking out. The story goes that Trump and Frederiksen spoke on the phone last week for about 45 minutes in what was expected to be a bit of a feeling-out between the two parties, given Trumps very public declaration that he would like to take Greenland off Denmarks hands. There apparently werent a lot of pleasantries exchanged before Trump got aggro. While Frederiksen reportedly expressed a willingness to cooperate with America, potentially allowing the U.S. to set up shop for military bases and dig up the islands wealth of mineral reserves, that was not enough for Trump. He wants to buy Greenland outright and reportedly was unwilling to move off position. He was very firm. It was a cold shower, a European official told the Financial Times. Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious, and potentially very dangerous. So thats not great. Officials described the Danish government as being in crisis mode following call and said they are utterly freaked out by this. Denmark, which is a NATO member alongside the U.S., is now staring down the barrel of potential tariffs that would seek to inflict harm on the countrys economy until theyre willing to let go of Greenland. Theyre right to be worried. Per the U.S. State Deparment, America is Denmarks largest export market, and business between the two accounts for nearly 80,000 jobs for Danes. So there is a fair bit of opportunity for Trump to put the squeeze on, and hes reportedly sending some of the most annoying people possible to negotiate. Ken Howery, a former PayPal mafia member alongside Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, is reportedly Americas point person, pending Senate approval. And theres another Thiel ghoul, Dryden Brown, who appears ready to jump at the chance to turn Greenland into a techno-utopia, whether they want it or not.For what its worth, they do not want it. Greenland isnt exactly thrilled be to treated as a political football. While the island is home to just 57,000 people, it does have its own autonomous government, and its leader, Mte B. Egede, has stated they are not interested in becoming American property. Thus far, that has not really seemed to factor into the whole conversation. Instead, Trump and company are looking past the actual people and thinking entirely about exploiting the land.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Lucas Ropek Published January 24, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 24, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published January 24, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 24, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 23, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 23, 2025