Trump’s Psychopathic Power Trip on Greenland

Donald Trump shocked the world when he sent Delta Force into Venezuela to kidnap Nicolás Maduro and his wife. There have been various ideas for why he did so, including the most common theory — that it’s all about the oil. (Venezuela has 18% of the world’s proven oil reserves.)

However, as we’ve learned, US oil companies want nothing to do with the Venezuelan oil. Perhaps Trump saw how much oil the country had, saw all of the negative coverage of Venezuela and Maduro over the years, and decided he’d go and remove Maduro from office and give Exxon, Chevron, etc. access to that oil. Only to later find out that they don’t want the gift.

Another theory is that it’s all a way of distracting from the Epstein files (which were supposed to be fully released by now and have not been), growing economic problems, and other serious issues facing Trump and his position as president.

Almost two weeks ago, I brought up that Greenland may be the next target. At the time, that was a wild and fanciful idea that most people thought was absurd and off the table. Since then, though … well, it’s been a top news item. Trump wants Greenland.

People keep wanting to assign logic to his actions. They keep wanting to explain the rationale behind big decisions, as if these decisions have been thoroughly thought out and make some kind of sense. The one used with Greenland, including by Trump, is that the USA needs Greenland for national security reasons. That argument has been made historically a number of times. From Wikipedia: “There were notable internal discussions within the US federal government about acquiring Greenland in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019, and 2025 and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by President Donald Trump, among others.”

But, seriously? The US doesn’t need Greenland for national security, obviously. We have a gigantically enormous military. It dwarfs other militaries. What threat do we face via Greenland? It makes no sense. China has chimed in and made the same point, but I assume more to look like the adult in the room than to actually calm any nerves about China or others bothering with Greenland. “Tensions have grown between Washington, Denmark and Greenland this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the vast Arctic island. Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. needs to ‘take Greenland,’ otherwise Russia or China would, in comments aboard Air Force One on Sunday,” CBS reported a few days ago. “He said he’d rather ‘make a deal’ for the territory, ‘but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.’ […] China responded in kind on Monday, saying the United States should not use other countries as a ‘pretext’ to pursue its interests in Greenland and said that China’s activities in the Arctic comply with international law.”

In Beijing, asked about Trump’s claims that the US needs Greenland to prevent China or Russia from taking it over, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded that “China’s activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region and are in accordance with international law.” Again, I think they’re keen to present a contrast to the aggressive and combative statements and activities coming from the USA right now.

But, again, we’re getting distracted by rationality. What is actually going on here? Some have claimed it’s about Greenland’s vast natural resources and gaining control of them. “Greenland, the largest island on Earth, possesses some of the richest stores of natural resources anywhere in the world,” The Conversation writes. “These include critical raw materials – resources such as lithium and rare earth elements (REEs) that are essential for green technologies, but whose production and sustainability are highly sensitive – plus other valuable minerals and metals, and a huge volume of hydrocarbons including oil and gas.

“Three of Greenland’s REE-bearing deposits, deep under the ice, may be among the world’s largest by volume, holding great potential for the manufacture of batteries and electrical components essential to the global energy transition.

“The scale of Greenland’s hydrocarbon potential and mineral wealth has stimulated extensive research by Denmark and the US into the commercial and environmental viability of new activities like mining. The US Geological Survey estimates that onshore northeast Greenland (including ice-covered areas) contains around 31 billion barrels of oil-equivalent in hydrocarbons — similar to the US’s entire volume of proven crude oil reserves.”

Trump loves to take things from others, to expand his wealth and ranking by taking from others. He’s a legitimate narcissist and psychopath, and I’m sure he wants to expand his “achievements” as a “legendary” president by trying to gain more real estate land — a lot more. Then he could be the US president who added Greenland to its territory.

“The difference between a sociopath and a psychopath lies in their emotional makeup and behavior: sociopaths are impulsive and emotionally reactive, while psychopaths are calculated and emotionally cold. Both share psychopathy and sociopathy traits but differ in how they manipulate and interact,” Clear Mind Treatment writes. Trump is not trying to help anyone. He is not trying to protect the United States. He is attempting to lay a big marker in his presidency, like putting a giant sign of his name on buildings he owns. He wants to take something from others — as he’s always been addicted to doing — to show how “strong” and “successful” he is. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump is a power hungry egomaniac who is obsessed with “growing his brand.” This is who he’s been for decades, and it’s not going away as he gets closer to death.

Of course, this thinking is all in alignment with Stephen Miller as well, the apparently psychopathic aide who seems to be pulling the strings much of the time in Trump’s presidency.

But is there anyone in the White House or its vicinity who is going to stop Trump from pursuing his worst instincts?

Cover photo: By Jean-Christophe André, via Pexels