Picking a Fight With Denmark While Confronting Iran Is Strategic Insanity
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“You don’t prepare for conflict by alienating the people you’ll need beside you.”
I never imagined I’d be writing this sentence, but here we are: a sitting American president is again threatening Greenland—territory of Denmark, a NATO ally—while openly preparing for possible military strikes against Iran. At precisely the moment when alliances matter most, when unity is not a luxury but a strategic necessity, we are flirting with the idea of picking a fight with our friends.
That is not strength. It is strategic malpractice.
Let’s be clear about what this means. Trump has revived rhetoric about asserting control over Greenland, treating it less like the sovereign territory of Denmark and more like a real estate deal that went sideways. Greenland is not a bargaining chip. It is not a joke. And Denmark is not some marginal player we can afford to alienate. It is a treaty ally, a reliable partner, and a core member of NATO—the alliance that has underwritten global stability for generations.
At the same time, the administration is signaling readiness for confrontation with Iran. Whatever one thinks of Iran’s behavior—and I have no illusions about the regime in Tehran—any serious military posture toward Iran requires allies. It requires legitimacy. It requires coordination, basing access, intelligence sharing, diplomatic backing, and the moral authority that comes from acting alongside partners rather than over their heads, and alone.
You don’t prepare for a potential conflict in the Middle East by antagonizing Europe.
Greenland matters strategically, yes. It matters for Arctic security, missile warning systems, and emerging great-power competition in the far north. But those interests are already protected—through cooperation with Denmark, through NATO, through agreements forged in trust. Threatening a NATO ally over territory they legally control is not how you strengthen Arctic security. It is how you fracture the very coalition that makes deterrence work.
The idea that the United States might “fight Denmark in Greenland” would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. It is insane on its face. Denmark has fought alongside us. Danish soldiers have bled alongside Americans. They didn’t ask whether the fight was politically convenient. They honored their commitments. And now, casually threatening their sovereignty sends a message far beyond Copenhagen: American promises are conditional, transactional, and subject to presidential whim.
That message is being heard—in Europe, in Asia, and especially in Tehran.
If we are serious about confronting Iran, we need the world to believe that America stands with its allies, not above them. We need partners willing to take political risks at home to support us abroad. That doesn’t happen when the United States behaves like a bully toward its own friends.
I come at this not as an academic exercise, but from the perspective of someone who has worn the uniform. The U.S. military is built on lawful orders, alliances, and shared purpose. It is not built to execute impulsive, reckless commands that undermine our own security architecture. The oath is to the Constitution—not to one man’s grievances or fantasies.
It is my sincere hope—my belief, frankly—that if an order were ever given to attack a NATO ally, to use American military force against Denmark over Greenland, the military would refuse. Not out of insubordination, but out of fidelity to the law, to treaties ratified by Congress, and to the basic logic of national defense. An order like that would not merely be immoral. It would be unlawful.
Allies are not ornaments. They are force multipliers. They are how America projects power without exhausting itself. They are how we avoid fighting alone, paying alone, bleeding alone. Undermining them in a moment of global tension is not toughness—it is self-sabotage.
We are entering a period where hard choices may be unavoidable. Iran is a real challenge. Global instability is real. Authoritarian powers are watching closely for signs of American isolation and incoherence. This is when seriousness matters most. This is when discipline matters. This is when the difference between leadership and ego becomes painfully clear.
America is strongest when it remembers who its friends are.
Greenland is not the problem. Denmark is not the enemy. NATO is not a nuisance. They are the very foundation that allows the United States to confront real threats with confidence rather than chaos.
My hope—still—is that cooler heads prevail. That our alliances hold. That our military remains anchored to law and honor. And that America remembers that strength is not measured by how many people you threaten, but by how many people are willing to stand with you when it actually matters.
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