The essence of tyranny is the imposition of one man’s will on an entire polity — with no checks, balances, or even reasons cited to back him up. It is, to coin a phrase, a triumph of will. In fact, you could argue that a tyrant aims for exactly such a demonstrable act of pure solipsism as soon as he can pull it off — against all elite and popular opinion and common sense — because it proves by its very arbitrary irrationality that only he matters. That’s why President Trump’s threat to the sovereignty of a NATO ally, Denmark, is a red line. No one — neither Greenlanders nor Americans — wants what is an insane idea. No one needs it. No reason can be given for it. And yet Trump keeps insisting, like a mafia boss, that he will take it. He must be stopped. The reasons given have changed, as they do when they are being invented on the fly to justify something already decided and totally bonkers. We were first told that this was about national security, because the Arctic — thanks to the climate’s rapid heating of the North Pole — is becoming a far more disputed part of the globe, with more valuable shipping lanes and military activity. Russia and China have their eyes on it. And so should we. Fair enough. In fact, let’s get to it. Greenland is already in NATO, and the Danes and Greenlanders would be more than happy to have all the US bases that were once there to come back, and more if necessary. The Danes, after all, are among the finest members of the alliance, committing to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, for many long years, with many fatalities. When Germany and France refused to send troops to accompany the US and UK in Iraq, the Danish parliament voted to support the US. Danes have literally died for us — and now we repay it by threatening to invade and conquer them. It’s a disgusting and shameful idea. This week, Trump tried to suggest that unless the US occupies Greenland against the wishes of its people, Russia and China will. There is no substance to this absurd lie. If Russia or China were to threaten Greenland’s sovereignty, NATO would invoke Article 5. Which is why Russia and China haven’t. The only reason they might is if Trump effectively ends NATO, as he is now apparently planning. And let’s be honest: if we’re not buying Greenland, and not allying with it, we are illegally invading and occupying a sovereign country — an action opposed by a super-majority of Americans (75 percent per CNN, 86 percent per Quinnipiac). So what’s left to defend the madness? According to Trump, the “psychological” benefit of “owning” the place. The best way to understand that, I think, is simply that Trump wants, like all tyrants, to expand the footprint of his domain. We missed this in the first term. But it’s just what tyrants do, what tyranny is — as Plato first explained. It’s what Putin is trying in Ukraine; and Xi in Taiwan and Tibet; and Netanyahu in Gaza and the West Bank. Trump wants to see the stars and stripes extend on a Mercator map to make America look BIGGER. So he can gain GLORY. That’s it. Yep. That’s really all this is. Some cold truths. If he gets away with it, our constitutional democracy is over. The president simply has no authority to unilaterally declare war on another NATO member, period, let alone annex it. Only the Senate can authorize such a grotesque and wicked thing — and even this Senate will not tear up NATO to give Trump a colonial boner. If he orders the military to attack NATO against the express will of the Senate, the military should not follow an illegal and unconstitutional order, and he should be impeached immediately. If he goes in and annexes Greenland, all our alliances will also be finished. Generations of work, hundreds of thousands of heroic sacrifices: all thrown away by the insatiable needs of one man’s vanity. International law will have been brazenly violated by the world’s greatest power, effectively ending 77 years of collective security. There will be no case in the aftermath for preventing China’s takeover of Taiwan, or Russia’s of Ukraine and the Baltic states (which would be defenseless when Trump kills NATO anyway), or Netanyahu’s endless wars in the Middle East. And yet Trump keeps insisting — menacingly — that it will happen regardless. This is what he said in response to the leader of Greenland’s statement that his country wants to stay in Denmark:
This is a bully every one of us should be ashamed of. Today, Trump went further and started to threaten fellow NATO members for, yes, defending a NATO member from external aggression:
So he will violate the Constitution by deploying tariffs only the Senate can authorize for a reason utterly unrelated to trade or any conceivable economic emergency in order to violate the Constitution some more by declaring a war he cannot declare without Senate authorization. This is a man completely out of control and out of his mind. Mercifully, several NATO countries are staring him down:
More troops please. NATO needs to make it very clear that a war on Greenland is a war on NATO, and Article 5 will be triggered. And the Congress needs to act now with a vote upholding the integrity of NATO and the inviolable sovereignty of our great ally, Denmark. Every second a NATO ally is threatened in this way damages the alliance deeply and endangers the order of the entire world. This is not a drill. The madman must be stopped now. Or he will become unstoppable. Tomorrow Belongs To MAGAThe one thing hacks like me have learned over the years, it is not to take claims of actual fascism too seriously in contemporary America. It’s an over-used epithet; early 20th Century fascism really isn’t on the US agenda; and Godwin’s law still applies. And then you read a dispatch like this one — seconded by Rod Dreher — on the radicalization of Kirk’s TPUSA since his death … (Read the rest of the piece here, for paid subscribers) (Note to readers: This is an excerpt of The Weekly Dish. If you’re already a paid subscriber, click here to read the full version. This week’s issue also includes: a long chat with Charlie Sykes on Trump’s authoritarianism; listener comments on recent pods; reader debate on the ICE killing and Trump’s Vikingism; 11 notable quotes from the week in news, including two Yglesias Awards; 19 pieces on Substack we recommend on a variety of topics; a stirring soul cover for a Mental Health Break; a snowy window in Juneau; and, of course, the results of the View From Your Window contest — with a new challenge. Subscribe for the full Dish experience!) From a new subscriber:
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New On The Dishcast: Charlie Sykes
Charlie is a journalist and podcaster. From 1993 to 2016, he hosted a conservative talk show on WTMJ in Milwaukee. He has also been the editor of Right Wisconsin, the editor-in-chief of The Bulwark, and a commentator on MSNBC. He recently went fully independent with his own substack, “To the Contrary” — subscribe! The author of many books, the latest was 2017’s How the Right Lost Its Mind. Listen to the episode here. There you can find two clips of our convo — on the Trump admin’s soulless response to the ICE killings, and if the GOP is starting to turn on Trump. That link also takes you to commentary on the recent pods with Claire Berlinski on Trump’s global wreckage, Laura Field on his intellectuals, and Simon Rogoff on narcissism. We also hear from readers on Renee Good’s death and Trump’s Viking foreign policy. Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Kevin Williamson on the devolution of the GOP, Jeffery Toobin on the pardon power, Jason Willick on trade and conservatism, Vivek Ramaswamy on the right’s future, and Michael Pollan on consciousness. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com. In The ‘StacksThis is a feature in the paid version of the Dish spotlighting about 20 of our favorite pieces from other Substackers every week. This week’s selection covers subjects such as the Iranian protests, what the US might do about it, and the utterly cynical Tulsi Gabbard. Below are two examples, followed by two new substacks:
Here’s a list of the substacks we recommend in general — call it a blogroll. If you have any suggestions for “In the ‘Stacks,” especially ones from emerging writers, please let us know: dish@andrewsullivan.com. The View From Your Window Contest
Where do you think it’s located? Email your guess to contest@andrewsullivan.com. Please put the location — city and/or state first, then country — in the subject line. Proximity counts if no one gets the exact spot. Bonus points for fun facts and stories. The deadline for entries is Wednesday at 11.59 pm (PST). The winner gets the choice of a VFYW book or two annual Dish subscriptions. If you are not a subscriber, please indicate that status in your entry and we will give you a free month sub if we select your entry for the contest results (example here if you’re new to the VFYW). Contest archive is here. Happy sleuthing! The results for this week’s window are coming in a separate email to paid subscribers later today. A sleuth writes:
He subsequently did, and set his own price. Chris — the keeper of the contest — and I are deeply grateful. See you next Friday.
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