# Trump now wants to use military force to take the Panama Canal and Greenland **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 7, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691 "2025-01-07T20:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/401 "2025-03-30T21:29:49Z")
“All right, but apart from the sanitation, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the ~~Romans~~ Greenlanders ever done for us?” “Brought Peace.” “Oh. Peace? Shut up!” ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/402 "2025-03-30T21:34:11Z")
I was reluctant to play the [**Rasmus Lyberth**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmus_Lyberth) card, but you leave me little choice. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/403 "2025-03-30T21:56:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Greenland would not be necessary to achieve that. The USA and Canada are a larger area than Russia, by a margin wider than Greenland, actually. But Greenland looks really big on the typical map that uses [Mercator projection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#Examples_of_size_distortion). _That_ I’m sure is as much or more important to Trump than how large it actually is. When American conquers Greenland it’ll _look_ much bigger on a map, which is what he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/404 "2025-03-30T22:18:07Z")
So, they’re going to invade Greenland. Which has the population of a small town. Do they even have soldiers there? Does anyone else remember the embarrassing “amphibious landing” back when the US got involved in Somalia back in the 90s? The guys were all “OORAH! WAR!”, as they landed on a beach that had already been secured by about a hundred TV reporters and crew. > **[Documentary : Storming the Beach--and Meeting the Press : The Marines' first...](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-15-wr-2286-story.html)** > > It was just after 3 a.m. last Wednesday. The moon was full, the air balmy, the surf calm. I can’t imagine this will be any less embarrassing. Trump will want a “Show of Force” he can brag about. It will look just completely ridiculous, 10,000 marines storming a small town, securing the general store and the two drinking establishments, as most of the population stands on their front porches watching in bemusement. Could the shame of this actually impact MAGA? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/405 "2025-03-30T22:43:27Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Could the shame of this actually impact MAGA? You say this as if they are capable of feeling shame. They are demonstrably not. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/406 "2025-03-30T22:50:13Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, they’re going to invade Greenland. Which has the population of a small town. Do they even have soldiers there? Denmark is a member of NATO, an attack on Greenland is an attack on NATO. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/407 "2025-03-30T22:51:26Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Denmark is a member of NATO, an attack on Greenland is an attack on NATO Yes, but I’m talking about boots on the ground right now. If the marines went ashore today, would there be anyone to meet them? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/408 "2025-03-30T23:17:34Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > If the marines went ashore today, I really don’t think it would be amphibious. We’d fly a few hundred extra troops into Pituffik and have them drive down. Couple of C5s and an airliner or two. Maybe a few C17s to bring food, tents, and blankets. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/409 "2025-03-30T23:24:33Z")
It would be nice if ordering aggressive war on a heretofore peaceful ally was considered an illegal order. The idea of US troops shooting Greenlanders makes me sick. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/410 "2025-03-30T23:45:33Z")
From about five hours ago, Greenland’s newly elected Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, letting it be known: > **[‘The US won’t get that’: Greenland rejects Trump’s claim over the territory](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/30/the-us-wont-get-that-greenland-rejects-trumps-claim-over-the-territory)** > > Greenlandic PM responds to Trump’s claims over Greenland, asserting that the territory will decide its own future. > [@](#): > > “President Trump says that the United States is getting Greenland. Let me be clear: The United States won’t get that. We do not belong to anyone else. We determine our own future,” Nielsen stated in a Facebook post on Sunday. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Mercator projection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#Examples_of_size_distortion). Don’t even _say_ that around Donald, he’ll immediately put an “A-” in front of it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/411 "2025-03-30T23:51:28Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > We’d fly a few hundred extra troops into Pituffik and have them drive down. [That’d be a nice trick.](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Pituffik,+Greenland/Nuuk,+Greenland/@69.1489758,-80.7877365,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4e3625a3dc83da8d:0x507cadc1ee8a9df1!2m2!1d-68.8155897!2d76.5293445!1m5!1m1!1s0x4ea20dce1ab32725:0x3de425fb4d692306!2m2!1d-51.7372787!2d64.1743234!3e0?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDMyNS4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) Link is supposed to be to a map with driving directions. You either fly into Nuuk, or you sail into its harbour. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/412 "2025-03-30T23:55:56Z")
The US already has a base in Greenland. Dating back to WWII and there’s an agreement in 1951 for continuing the base. It’s there to protect that region. I wouldn’t be surprised if permission for that base is in jeopardy because of Trump’s statements. I understand Greenland is a crucial asset. It could be seized by China. The US may need another base in the region. Negotiations are a diplomatic mission. That may be impossible now. Link [Why Is The U.S. Military In Greenland? What To Know About Pituffik Space Base.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/03/29/what-to-know-about-pituffik-space-base-as-trump-pushes-to-acquire-greenland-decades-after-us-built-military-site/) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/413 "2025-03-30T23:56:08Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I can’t imagine this will be any less embarrassing. Trump will want a “Show of Force” he can brag about. It will look just completely ridiculous, 10,000 marines storming a small town, securing the general store and the two drinking establishments, as most of the population stands on their front porches watching in bemusement. The biggest town in Greenland, Nuuk, has fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, and once you’ve taken it you’ve basically taken Greenland. Most of the island is just… ice. There are little villages around the periphery, but the island doesn’t have internal lines of communication or anything like that. Denmark’s defense of Greenland is just a few naval patrols, really. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/414 "2025-03-30T23:59:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Most of the island is just… ice. There are little villages around the periphery, but the island doesn’t have internal lines of communication or anything like that. Greenlanders should start reporting “Anti-Trump enclaves” in the middle of glaciers, just to see how many Marines they can get frostbitten. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/415 "2025-03-31T00:31:01Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, they’re going to invade Greenland. Which has the population of a small town. Do they even have soldiers there? Greenlanders are excused from Danish conscription. So they do not have a body of reservists to mobilize. Defending soldiers would have to come from Denmark, which is a lot further than the U.S. (besides that the U.S. has an air base there and AFAIK the Danes do not). Sometimes outsiders say a war is hopeless when it is not (Ukraine 2022, Britain 1939-41). But I really think that in the Greenland and Panama cases, defense is hopeless. I think lack of conscription is, for small nations, a terrible mistake. It’s not that the Greenlanders, with Danish help, would be wise to resist a U.S. invasion. They wouldn’t. It’s that if Trump could see that the Greenlanders were bracing for large scale battle, even with frightful odds against them, the bully would back down. In this sense, a conscript army, or an army of scantily-equipped reservists, can be like nuclear weapons. Using it won’t do any good, but threatening it, when your national existence is at risk, may do wonders. The Greenlanders will not get the Danes to engage in a suicidal war when there is no expectation of many Greenlanders fighting. So, if Trump is both serious and literal, the best Greenlanders can hope is for U.S. military occupation to be mild, and to only last a few years. Some towns may never see a U.S. soldier (although they would still be harmed economically). ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/416 "2025-03-31T00:34:03Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Link is supposed to be to a map with driving directions. I never said we’d be driving cars. Although given the general level of competence for this administration, they’d probably fly in with a couple dozen Cybertrucks - and then have to wait 10 or so years until they could run power from the base to set up Superchargers wherever they got stranded. Lest anyone misunderstand my posts, I do NOT and never will support this ridiculous charade. I’m just trying clumsily to point out how easy it would be. FFS, for all practical purposes we already “have” Greenland. We’re the only military presence on the island and as the Danish Foreign Minister said yesterday, if we want more bases (although Og only knows what the hell we’d do with them), just ask. The whole thing is insane and being run by a lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/417 "2025-03-31T00:42:23Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > I never said we’d be driving cars. You won’t be “driving” anything. It’s about 1,500 km from Pituffik to Nuuk, and hugging the coastline is the only option, so it’d be longer than that. I can’t imagine a more ridiculous scenario that trying to drive off-road vehicles that far, in harsh conditions, with no places to refuel along the way. And helicopters wouldn’t be much better. A [Blackhawk has a range of about 600 KM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_UH-60_Black_Hawk#Specifications_(UH-60M)), so you’d need at least two refueling stops. Sailing into the harbour is the only real option. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/418 "2025-03-31T00:44:06Z")
Has Trump said why the US hasn’t quietly expanded the base in Greenland? Was there any opposition to the US presence before Trump made it political? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/419 "2025-03-31T00:50:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The biggest town in Greenland, Nuuk, has fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, and once you’ve taken it you’ve basically taken Greenland. > > Most of the island is just… ice. **All** of the island is just … NATO! I don’t know what it will take to stop this orange loose cannon, but I sure hope it happens soon. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691/420 "2025-03-31T00:55:39Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And helicopters wouldn’t be much better. A [Blackhawk has a range of about 600 KM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_UH-60_Black_Hawk#Specifications_(UH-60M)), so you’d need at least two refueling stops. Sailing into the harbour is the only real option. That’s combat range and there won’t be “combat”. Ferry range is 2,220km which is closer to what this would look like. But sure, have it your way, so we send one MPS (T-AK) instead. It’s overkill, but it’s what we have. Again, this is stupid. The US could “take” Nuuk without breaking a sweat. But why do we need to? The really dumb part is if Trump45 had asked to build a base near Nuuk with 1,000 troops and offers that they would get regular leave into town to spend money, the Greenlanders probably would have been enthusiastic supporters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-now-wants-to-use-military-force-to-take-the-panama-canal-and-greenland/1012691.md?page=22)