The transatlantic alliance reflected a world that was designed and largely enforced by American power. Now, as American primacy fades, the U.S. government has embraced the predatory worldview of its traditional opponents. Firepower matters more than values or alliances, and everything is in play.
In December, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service noted that the U.S. has transformed into a nation that “uses economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will, and no longer rules out the use of military force, even against allies.” Weeks later, Danish soldiers prepared to blow up Greenlandic runways, in case of a U.S. invasion.
For this project, Ben Taub traveled to Denmark and Greenland, with support from the Pulitzer Center, to report on what it's like to be on the receiving end of American influence operations and threats. In the course of his reporting, Taub discovered the existence of a secret National Security Council task force, during Trump's first term, whose focus was the acquisition of Greenland. The story is published in The New Yorker.
