by Nicoline Hansen
President Donald Trump had a state visit to Denmark planned for Sept 2–3. That plan was cancelled after the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, called Trump’s idea of buying Greenland “absurd.”
Frederiksen’s comment came after Trump tweeted an offensive picture on Twitter. The picture was of a Greenlandic town with a photoshopped Trump tower added. “I promise not to do this to Greenland,” was the caption that accompanied the photo.
The planned topics of discussion during the visit included how to strengthen the bond between Denmark and the U.S., security policy, arctic questions and trade promotion. Thomas Larsen, political commentator for the Danish newspaper Berlingske, described in an article that state visits are often used to verify a friendship, relations and alliances between two countries.
“I consider it [the cancellation] a wasted opportunity to cement long lasting and strong diplomatic relations,” René Skov Lomholt, a social studies, Chinese and history teacher at Espergærde Gymnasium in Denmark, said.
Both the cancellation of the visit and the photo posted on Twitter deeply offended Greenland and Denmark. The cancellation came as a big shock for the Danish Queen Margrethe II who invited the President. “I think the political establishment views the cancelation as an affront to the Queen of Denmark, and rightly so,” Lomholt said. The cancellation violates the traditions and etiquettes that come with state visits.
“Personally, I don’t think [state visits] are terribly important but again, it’s a part of this standard practice of diplomacy and expectations that other countries and diplomatic networks have,” Dr. Dale Gardner, who teaches international affairs at Parkland College, said. However, when it comes to deeply rooted traditions, cancelling a visit due to a disagreement in word choice is unacceptable whether you find them important or not. Larsen comments in the same article that, “It is an unheard situation… No one behaves like that and definitely not the President of the United States.”
Though any country would greatly benefit from Greenland’s geographical position, I do not think that Trump is aware of Greenland’s issues and I do not believe that he is ready to provide the people with the help they need. Dr. Gardner agrees and further explained that the U.S. has not even dealt with the issues within its own country yet.
“I think the American President is absorbed by the thought of securing the American people,” Lomholt said. “Greenland plays a vital role in maintaining and developing the early missile detection system installed during the Cold War. The strengthening of the American second fleet lends credence to that fact.” Greenland has national security value due to its location, which makes it appealing to countries like the U.S.
In addition, Greenland is rich on natural resources such as coal, zinc, copper and iron ore. Why would Denmark be interested in selling Greenland to America just so they can take advantage of these things? Instead, Greenland should be taught how to leverage these natural resources to establish a steadier economy.
“The way to go about this wasn’t making this big public announcement about wanting Greenland. You have to go by it by going through proper channels.”
The way that everything played out was just flat out wrong. “The way to go about this wasn’t making this big public announcement about wanting Greenland,” Gardner said. “It was to make nice of the Greenlanders first and make nice with Denmark second. It would probably be a long-term process… You have to go by it by going through proper channels.”
The lack of communication with Greenland, combined with the hurtful picture posted on Twitter, rubbed the Greenlandic people the wrong way. “I can’t even imagine going back to be a colony,” Louise Nielsen commented to the Danish newspaper, Ekstra Bladet. “I guess everything has a price, but it hurts to be viewed as a commodity when we are free people who live in autonomy.” Trump has lacked a sensitivity and understanding throughout this entire matter.
The Danes’ feelings were hurt, but is it really going to have a big impact on the relationship between Denmark and the U.S.? Gardner’s answer was a clear no. “The way he acts isn’t always without reason, it’s just how he does it,” Gardner said. “It doesn’t have to mean anything for the relationship with another country to have the President neglect coming to one’s country, especially a smaller country.” I am certain that the Danish Queen and politicians understand as well. This is not about Trump cancelling; it is about how he cancelled.
Gardner explained that Trump has a confused foreign policy. He has a policy that is very focused on his own personality and his own personal preferences. “In that way [cancelling] wasn’t surprising. A lot of what is happening in this administration is a bit of a surprise,” Gardner said. According to Gardner, we must remember that Trump is not the first president to act out of selfishness and personal opinions. “Most of our Presidents have had significant insensitivities unless they have had a lot of foreign experience already. Someone like the first Bush or Obama were pretty sensitive with these kinds of things.”
I am not sure if I find this argument strong enough to dispatch my feelings about this case and I am not sure that it is enough for the rest of the Danes. In our eyes, this is just another example of a lack of respect.
“High level state visits are important for retaining a strong, mutual understanding and bolstering relations in a wide variety of arenas. Be it political, social, economic, matters pertaining to security etc.,” Lomholt said. But shouldn’t state visits be considered important whether it includes small or larger countries? All countries, regardless of size, deserve respect.
