OAN Commentary by: Theodore R. Malloch
Friday, January 23, 2026
In Old Norse mythology, gods, like Thor, wield immense strength and powers, such as his hammer, which he uses to protect mankind and battle giants. Other powerful figures include Odin, who possesses wisdom and magical abilities, and Surtr, the fire giant destined to bring destruction during Ragnarök.
In New Norse mythology, why not accept the MAGA God, Donald, bringing unequalled strength. He wields the nuclear hammer and exhibits wisdom to avoid total destruction.
You’d think something new has just been unleashed. It is the furthest thing from the truth. Trump’s move on Greenland was far more than half settled already way back in 1951. Why are the Danes so perplexed? The Europeans fluxed by the need for America’s sovereignty, a Golden Dome over our hemisphere, and their very own defense?
The matter was resolved after WWII. The US therefore does not need to take Greenland as Denmark, a slovenly colonial power in this case fears, since we have a binding defense agreement under NATO, which grants the US legal right to operate militarily for collective defense. That means ours and yours. The framework remains in force and enables the long-standing US presence with Pitufflk Space Base. It is absolutely critical to missile warning, space surveillance, and Arctic defense. More so now than ever. It just needs to be updated and reframed, so the US is fully in the driver’s seat long-term over all of the massive island.
The new strategic assessment changes things since Russia and China are actively pursuing the Arctic both militarily and economically. They are dangerously targeting trade routes, critical minerals, and strategic influence. Yes, the ice is receding!
Denmark is an extremely weak power, with two dog sleds, who has depended on US strategic defense for eight decades without paying. The US has shelled out over $22 trillion to defend all of Europe. What does that buy? And where are the thanks?
The Danes have no capacity in a great-power competition at this scale. Besides that, Greenland should, under the UN decolonial powers, *as stipulated in Article 1 (2) of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as from three specific chapters in the Charter which are devoted to the interests of dependent peoples), be free. It should align with who it wants, not be controlled by a tiny country thousands of miles (2,193 exactly) away with little interest or ability to defend it.
The US is not stealing, invading, or making Greenland a state. We are not on a mission of conquest. Trump is doing what is in the US and truthfully the entire West’s national/collective interest. We must be granted or sold Greenland to put it under US military protection—as already envisaged as we prepare for the coming Arctic Rim new Cold War.
Here are four sound reasons this makes complete sense in 2026.
To start, the history of US land purchases is not imperial, about empire building, or raw territorial grabs. We made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 for $15 million. The Florida Purchase from Spain in 1819 was for $5 million. We did the deal for California in 1854 for $10 million. Then added another part of Arizona soon thereafter for $15 million from Mexico. We bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. In 1917 we bought the Virgin Islands from, yes, Denmark for $25 million.
So, obtaining Greenland has precedents and is warranted. There are only 55,690 Inuit people living on the coast of Greenland presently and the surface is 80% ice. It is undeveloped and dependent on fishing. Trump should make an offer, what about a million US dollars for each resident and we throw in some form of residency or US citizenship. It would be a great deal for both parties and Denmark, hell all of Europe and the UK, who would get an upgraded defensive umbrella—for free. What is there to negotiate?
Let’s face it, the EU is feeble and does not pay its freight. They want NATO, then don’t or won’t pay for it, and yet need the US, as in Ukraine more than ever. Only the US can do what needs to be achieved in Greenland. It is strategic and US national interests dictate it. Let us do it easily or as the President reminds— “there is the hard way.”
Arctic minerals are impressive and voluminous. They include rare earths, iron ore, graphite, tungsten, palladium, zinc, gold, uranium, copper and oil. Keeping the Rusike’s and the Chinese out is imperative. The two other dominant powers are in the Arctic and want to control all of it. They must be stopped.
Then there are the nukes. Nuclear weapons not the capital of Greenland—Nuuk. The unspoken news here is in the game theory or the math behind the nuclear force.
Are the Europeans going to deploy hundreds or even thousands of warheads on short range heat sinks right by Siberia? No more than the Canadians are going to suddenly manifest a gigantic fleet of ice breakers there. They’re all totally spent. It is up to us. The US is the only reliable, unipower and it will do what it needs to do.
The Melian Dialogue (the siege of Melos occurred in 416 BC, during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta )is taught as a classic case study in political realism to illustrate that the world is anarchic, that states are motivated by selfish and pragmatic concerns, and that the only rational approach is based on power and advantage. In particular, the quotation “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must” is taken as the founding statement of political realism.
Realistically, Greenland, the world’s largest island, is not and probably will never be a US state but it should be a protected territory whose destiny and future are controlled from Washington, DC. The world will be a better and safer place, if and when it is. Thankfully the framework for resolution was hammered out in Davos this week. NATO and the Arctic nations have come to their senses and Trump’s Art of the Deal worked.
(Views expressed by guest commentators may not reflect the views of OAN or its affiliates.)
Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, scholar-diplomat-strategist was part of the team that brought down the Soviet Union. A professor at Yale and Oxford, his latest book is GREATNESS: The Trump Revolution and Coming Golden Age for America.
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