The floor of the European Parliament in Strasbourg is rarely the setting for viral profanity, but on Tuesday, the simmering geopolitical farce over the Arctic boiled over. Anders Vistisen, a Danish member of the Patriots for Europe group, abandoned diplomatic protocol to deliver a message to Donald Trump that required no translation.
“Let me put it in words you might understand,” Vistisen said, addressing the US President directly during a heated debate. “Mr. President, f*** off.”
The outburst, which saw Vistisen immediately reprimanded by the session’s chair, marks a new low in the rapidly deteriorating relations between Washington and its European allies. It comes just hours after President Trump, fresh from a series of midnight posts on Truth Social, shared a controversial AI-generated map titled “Greater America.” The image, which has since been flagged but not removed, depicts the United States, Canada, and Greenland washed in a uniform American flag motif, captioned “Project Golden Dome: Secure the North.”
For European leaders like Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron—who are currently in Davos attempting to salvage trade talks—the incident is a diplomatic nightmare, even as Trump keeps turning up the rhetoricv. But for Trump, it is merely the next phase of a “real estate deal” he has obsessed over since his first term.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Trump’s fixation is not merely the whim of a developer eyeing a new lot; it is rooted in a blend of aggressive resource acquisition and Cold War-style strategy.
First, the “Golden Dome.” Trump has explicitly linked the acquisition of Greenland to his proposed missile defense shield. Geographically, Greenland sits directly under the flight path of potential intercontinental ballistic missiles from Russia or China. Controlling the island would allow the US to expand the Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) without Danish oversight, turning the territory into an unsinkable aircraft carrier and radar hub.
Second, the treasure chest beneath the ice. As the Arctic melts, it exposes vast deposits of rare earth minerals—neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium—essential for everything from fighter jets to iPhones. Currently, China dominates this supply chain. Trump views buying Greenland as a shortcut to breaking Beijing’s monopoly, effectively seizing a strategic resource bank for the American economy.
Why he is so very wrong
Despite the strategic logic, the proposal is fundamentally flawed on legal, ethical, and diplomatic grounds.
The primary error is a misunderstanding of sovereignty. Trump views Greenland as a colonial asset owned by Denmark, akin to the US Virgin Islands in 1917. However, Greenland has had self-rule since 2009. Copenhagen handles foreign affairs and defense, but it cannot sell the island. The decision belongs to the 57,000 Greenlanders—an Indigenous population with their own parliament, language, and culture—who have repeatedly stated they are “open for business, not for sale.”
Furthermore, the “Greater America” map, which implicitly annexes Canada, betrays a catastrophic ignorance of alliance dynamics. By threatening to “acquire” the territory of NATO founding members, Trump is not projecting strength; he is dismantling the trust that underpins Western security. As Vistisen’s crude rebuttal demonstrates, the time for polite diplomatic deflection is over. Europe is no longer laughing at the absurdity; it is bracing for a hostile takeover of the Arctic.
