DESPITE their own naked self-interests and their strong economic ties with Caracas, China and Russia managed to restrain themselves in reacting to the Jan. 3, 2026 US invasion of Venezuela. This has prevented the outbreak of an unwanted multipolar war in Latin America. But US President Donald Trump’s desire to annex the Danish territory of Greenland has raised the prospect of a new conflict, this time with some of his own treaty allies in Europe and North America.
As Wikipedia describes it, Greenland is an autonomous region in the Arctic, within the Kingdom of Denmark, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is the largest island in the world, known for its vast tundra, immense glaciers and unique wildlife. It is home to the white-tailed eagle and auk, mammals such as the musk ox and arctic fox, and whales and seals for marine life. The island features a vibrant mix of traditional and modern cities with shops and educational institutions all over.
Trump has been heard to say that Greenland is “under-protected,” and needs the protective shield of the US, given the growing Chinese and Russian presence in the Arctic. Apparently fearing that Trump might make a sudden move to annex Greenland, in the same manner he has attacked Venezuela, some NATO members have reportedly started making preparations for such a possibility.
Greenland is not alone in this situation. Trump has made some disturbing remarks about making Canada, an infinitely vaster land mass, the 51st state in the American Union, causing so much anger in Canada that Prime Minister Mark Carney only had to exploit the anti-Trump sentiment among Canadians to get overwhelmingly reelected.
The reaction in Greenland has not been as intense. But Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius have been quoted as saying a US military takeover would spell the end of NATO, the military alliance of 32 North American and European countries.
NATO has been in existence since 1949. Given Denmark’s small population of less than 6 million (and Greenland’s over 56,000), its limited military capability and its traditionally close ties with Washington, such a takeover would most likely be strongly opposed only on paper. It might not add much to Trump’s geopolitical problems. But for their own reasons, some external actors might wish to intervene and transform the issue into a raging international storm.
Given the various crises already piled up on Trump’s plate, this could be just one more minor problem for him. But he cannot afford to have them piling up some more. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine have to end, and an exit plan in Venezuela must be found before the moral contagion of American neo-imperialism consumes the region. In Asia, the Taiwan issue must not be permitted to explode at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s will. And the Middle East should not become an ocean of fire just because the US and Israel continue to believe Iran has not been punished severely enough for wanting to acquire its own nuclear capability for its energy development program. Tehran insists on its right to nuclear energy, but Israel and the US suspect it wants to develop its own nuclear bomb, and are determined to make sure it does not happen. So, the US decided to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan last June, even without declaring a state of war. Iran survived the attack as though it never occurred, and now it is threatened by a new Islamic revolution.
Trump obviously intended the invasion of Venezuela to delay the emergence of a multipolar world. But China and Russia, the leading powers in Brics, which includes Brazil, India and South Africa, proved to be one step ahead. The invasion, which resulted in the US abduction of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, and his wife, and throwing them inside a New York City jail on drug trafficking charges, did not undo the Chinese and Russian presence in the region; nor did it make things easier for Trump. But amid all these external challenges, Trump’s real problem appears to be primarily domestic.
Not a word about it has leaked to the Philippine press, but unless everything we have heard from the digital media is fake news, Trump appears to be facing a crisis of survival as president. He is facing an impeachment complaint from Republican and Democratic members of Congress based on his decisions to attack a foreign country, first Iran and now Venezuela, without the prior authority and consent of Congress, and his failure to obey rulings and orders from the court, for which federal judges have ruled him in contempt; calls for resignation from multiple sources; a constitutional declaration from his own vice president, J. D. Vance, and members of the Cabinet, under the 25th Amendment, that he is unable to perform the duties of his office; various charges related to the running of Trump Towers, his business empire, which has given him his public identity as a billionaire businessman these past 50 years. For the first time in his long career, Trump seems to be on the receiving end from politicians, lawyers and judges.
The well-known American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett and the highly regarded conservative newspaper columnist George Will, in their extensive commentaries on YouTube, have described Trump’s ongoing court saga as the most catastrophic and humiliating that ever happened to a sitting US president. But the fight is not yet over, and we have yet to see which narrative will prevail: Trump’s effort to change the map of the world or the combined efforts of the other nations to bring Trump’s authoritarian impulse to heel and bring about a functioning multipolar world.
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