Trump's USA

Greenland's future
Expert: US words on Greenland are a stab in the back for Denmark

The statement from the new US envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, that he will work to make Greenland part of the US is a "stab in the back" for Denmark. This is what Jan Hallenberg, senior researcher at the Institute of Foreign Affairs, says in SVT's Aktuellt.

The statement has drawn strong criticism in Europe, and several countries and the EU have sided with Denmark. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard wrote earlier in the day in a comment to TT:

"Sweden wholeheartedly supports our neighboring country on these issues."

US President Donald Trump has on several occasions expressed his desire to make Greenland part of the US and said that this could be done through a purchase or, if necessary, through economic or military coercion.

If the US were to impose sanctions on Denmark, Hallenberg believes that the EU would respond with countermeasures and that Denmark, in an “extreme emergency”, could also impose its own sanctions on the US.

– That possibility exists, and the EU will stand behind Denmark on that issue, he says.

Expert: All the kind words and money have had no effect

When the US's new special envoy expressed the desire for Greenland to belong to the US, Denmark's investments in Greenland, the efforts to defend the Arctic and the kind words directed at the Americans have proven to be of no importance. Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, told Reuters.

TV2's Lotte Mejlhede writes in a quick analysis that the statement on Greenland is close to the new US security strategy published in early December.

"It was published a few weeks ago and describes how the US wants to have significantly greater control over the Western Hemisphere, which includes Greenland. The US wants to secure access to both military and commercial interests," writes Mejlhede.

American defense
The US warship of the future: "Trump-class"

US President Donald Trump has announced that the country is re-equipping its fleet for the future. This will include the construction of new battlecruisers that will be named after himself - "Trump-class".

- We are in desperate need of new ships, says Trump at a press conference, according to Bloomberg.

According to CNN, the goal is to build between 20 and 25 such ships.

- The Navy will lead the design of these ships together with me, because I am a very aesthetic person, he says.