The Trump-go-round . . . anything but merry

We should have seen it coming, because we’ve seen it before.

After months of making the international community scramble to respond to his growing insistence on the U.S. taking ownership of Greenland, U.S. President Donald Trump travelled to Switzerland, gave a rambling speech in which he repeated his desires, met NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte … and then abruptly dropped the whole thing.

“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed a framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social.

Details of what this “framework” entails are sparse, but what has been said suggests this is a similar outcome to Trump’s earlier bloviating about a supposed wave of fentanyl being trafficked into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. In response to Trump’s gesturing at an illusory problem, his target agrees to do “more,” proceeds to do what they were going to do anyway, and Trump goes home feeling like he scored a deal, utterly apathetic to the fear and uncertainty he spread in the process.

In the case of Trump’s Great Fentanyl Scare, his neighbours vowed to boost border security in ways they already had or were going to. In the case of Greenland’s security, Rutte has made some promise toward increased Arctic security.

“I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026,” Rutte said Thursday, according to the BBC.

There’s no doubt Rutte is correct. Other NATO nations did not share Trump’s concern that Greenland was in danger of Russian or Chinese aggression. Therefore, the main purpose of increasing security in the region would be to mollify Trump.

More broadly, since NATO member nations already include countries with a vested interest in securing wide portions of the Arctic, it’s not much different than the pre-existing plan.

There are other details: Trump seeks access to Greenland’s critical minerals, and there is a question of whether his “Golden Dome” defence system will be partly housed in Greenland. But Trump has already backed down, so it is unlikely he will still be interested when the time comes to tell him “no” on both counts.

This is not to downplay the effect of Trump’s behaviour. His pointed threats at the sovereignty of Greenland (and Canada, for that matter) must be taken seriously, even if he is doing the political equivalent of firing a six-shooter at the international community’s feet just to make it dance.

Eventually, something has to give — such is the common sentiment in this time of Trump-fuelled chaos. Only there won’t be any help or reason coming from within the White House. It’s time for world leaders to focus on the people who can do something: U.S. lawmakers, who have it in their power to take Trump out of office.

Some Democratic senators have called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment under the U.S. constitution in order to remove Trump, on the basis that he is incapable of properly serving as president — or as the document puts it, is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

Democrats have not been an especially effective opposing power to Trump; Republicans will need to be convinced as well that it is necessary to drop Trump. World powers — particularly NATO allies in Canada and Europe — must begin to apply pressure to American lawmakers to exercise their own power to deal with this problem.

Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before Trump sets his sights on some new, galling demand. Around and around we go.

Time to stop the ride.