Free Republic

A German politician has suggested that boycotting the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico could be a “last resort” in response to Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland. US President Donald Trump believes his country needs to acquire Greenland, the world's largest island, for national security reasons. The demands have been rejected by Greenland's leaders and by Nato member Denmark, of which the island is a semi-autonomous territory. Trump, meanwhile, has not ruled out using military force. In fact, Trump recently threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex...

<p>The protesters, including the territory’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, waving a Greenlandic flag, chanted slogans and traditional Inuit songs under light rain.</p><p>Many wore caps with the words “Make America Go Away” — a riff on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.</p>

Denmark said it did not manage to dissuade President Donald Trump from seeking to conquer Greenland during high-level talks at the White House on Wednesday. "It's clear the president has this wish of conquering Greenland," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said at a news conference after a closed-door meeting attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "We had what I will describe as a frank but also constructive discussion," he added, standing alongside Greenland’s minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt. "The president has made his view clear, and we have a different position.” Trump...

On Jan. 1, Bulgaria became the eurozone’s 21st member when it gave up its 145-year-old currency, the lev, for the euro. In Sofia and Brussels, this development was roundly celebrated as another step in the European Union’s economic and political integration. What went largely unnoticed, however, is the extent to which Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro represents a strategic blow for the Kremlin. After years of sustained effort to block Sofia from joining the eurozone, Moscow failed to prevent a decision that anchors Bulgaria more deeply and irreversibly within the European project. The currency switch not only exposed the limits...

The chair of Shannon Airport warned the Minister for Transport that protests and airside incursions at the airport were a “grave risk” and a threat to the international reputation of the State. The letter to Minister Darragh O’Brien last May said security breaches at Shannon that month were part of a “persistent and deeply concerning” trend. However, a further incident took place in November when protesters managed to reach an apron and taxiway, before spray painting a US military aircraft. In last year’s correspondence, the airport chair Conal Henry pleaded for help, saying the incursions posed a very serious security...

Several NATO countries are deploying small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to participate in joint exercises with Denmark as US President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to forcibly annex the Arctic island. Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, has warned an attack on Greenland would all but end NATO, and announced on Wednesday that it was expanding its military presence “in close cooperation with NATO allies.” Germany, Sweden, France and Norway have all since confirmed they are sending military personnel to Greenland this week for a joint exercise with Danish troops. Canada and France have also said...

Greenland’s economy may be small, but its real value is tied to Arctic security and vast mineral reserves. Trump’s interest in it reflects US efforts to counter China’s dominance in sourcing critical raw materials. When Donald Trump once again raised the idea of acquiring Greenland in early 2025, it sounded, at first, like a familiar holdover from his first presidency. Yet the renewed interest, this time accompanied by reports that Trump’s team had discussed issuing direct payments to Greenlanders, seems to point to a deeper commitment than mere political theatre. On Wednesday, US vice president JD Vance met with Denmark’s...

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Greenlanders could vote to join Russia if US President Donald Trump did not move quickly to secure the Arctic island, Interfax reported on Monday. “Trump needs to hurry. According to unverified information, in a few days there could be a sudden referendum, at which the entire 55,000-strong Greenland could vote to join Russia,” Interfax reported, quoting Medvedev, a former Russian president. “And then that’s it. No new little stars on the (US) flag.” Trump has revived his push for the United States to take control of Greenland. The Arctic island’s Prime Minister...

US President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to use military force to bring the Arctic island under American control Denmark has begun sending military personnel to Greenland, and allied reinforcements are expected to follow, Danish media reported on Wednesday.Greenlandic and Danish authorities announced that Danish military forces will expand their presence on the island and continue conducting exercises with allies throughout 2026.Greenlanders should expect to see more military planes, troops and ships in Greenland “including from NATO allies,” the statement reads.Danish Minister Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said on Wednesday afternoon that more countries were inbound for Greenland. Sweden...

Ireland is to give €42 million in aid to the people of Palestine over the course of 2026, up from €36 million last year. Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee made the announcement during a visit to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza. The funding will include €20 million to support the work of UNRWA that provides vital services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, and across the region, while €2 million will assist the work of the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies. …

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers will visit Denmark this week as President Donald Trump threatens a takeover of Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark that hosts a US airbase. The delegation will be led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons and will include Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Dick Durbin, along with several members of the House of Representatives, Coons’ office said in a statement on Monday.

“Jan 13 (Reuters) - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Greenlanders could vote to join Russia if U.S. President Donald Trump did not move quickly to secure the Arctic island, Interfax reported on Monday. “Trump needs to hurry. According to unverified information, in a few days there could be a sudden referendum, at which the entire 55,000-strong Greenland could vote to join Russia," Interfax reported, quoting Medvedev, a former Russian president. "And then that’s it. No new little stars on the (U.S.) flag.

Those who want to see a new government in Ireland to cut immigration and break ties with globalist elites need to “reach across the Atlantic” and seek help from the Irish diaspora in the US MAGA movement, Eddie Hobbs told a conference on Saturday. The audience for the weekend-long IRL Forum in Ashbourne, County Meath, who had paid €90 each for a two-day pass or €50 a day, numbered 300 to 400 on Saturday morning and included US ambassador to Ireland, Edward Walsh. Participants in the sessions, which were all moderated by Mr. Hobbs, a financial adviser-turned podcaster and campaigner,...

Longtime Greenlanders have told the Daily Mail they are furious with President Donald Trump for once again floating the possibility of taking over their country. Trump revived talk about the United States asserting formal control over Greenland on Sunday, one day after US soldiers captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and brought the deposed leader back to New York to face a litany of criminal charges. 'It's so strategic,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One. 'We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it. Jørgen Bay-Kastrup is the CEO...

“Civil death” was a punishment under ancient French law—abolished in 1854—that extinguished the legal personality of the convicted individual: loss of property, family rights, and civil existence, while leaving the person physically alive. Civil death—cruel, total, annihilating—was believed to belong to a bygone era. The European Union has just reinvented it—and made it worse. The case of Swiss Colonel Jacques Baud, who has been struck with civil death by the EU, first caught my attention. By a sovereign decision dated December 15, 2024, the EU banned Mr. Baud from its territory and “froze” all his assets. However hard I searched,...

President Trump is hitting home runs. If voters pay attention, this should result in Republican victories in the midterm elections. This is especially important because the party that holds the presidency usually loses House and Senate seats. It is therefore vital that Trump not break his winning streak with unnecessary and unjustifiable military action against Greenland. If Greenland’s 50,000 or so inhabitants believe that Denmark is not doing a good job for them, they are always free to vote to become a U.S. territory, as many other regions have done throughout our history. [SNIP] Acquire Greenland Peacefully or Not at...

To hear some U.S. officials tell it, Greenland is a treasure trove of crucial minerals ripe for the taking. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, has hailed how “Greenland sits atop vast reserves of rare-earth elements,” while U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has pointed to the territory’s “incredible natural resources.” “It’s our national security. It’s critical minerals,” then-incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz declared when discussing President Donald Trump’s designs on the island last year. As Greenland has yet again entered the global spotlight amid Trump’s annexation threats, so too has the island’s mining potential for rare earths, the...

As U.S. President Donald Trump insists his country needs Greenland for security purposes, Canada's former top soldier is warning that a U.S. takeover of the area could spell the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "We have no history of one NATO partner seizing territory from another," said retired general Wayne Eyre, formerly Canada's chief of the defence staff, in an interview with CBC's The House. "I share the Danish assessment that yes, this could be the shattering of NATO, much to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's delight." In the aftermath of Trump's operation in Venezuela, U.S. officials have stepped...

Spain is ready to send troops to Palestine for peacekeeping “when the opportunity presents itself,” just as it is willing to deploy forces to Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday. “I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification,” he told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid. “Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip… Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine. The situation there remains intolerable.” …

European governments now understand the seriousness of Trump's threats and are "desperately looking for a plan to stop him"BRUSSELS, January 8. /TASS/. Amid US President Donald Trump's increasingly harsh rhetoric about establishing control over Greenland, the European Union is preparing for a direct confrontation with the US leader, according to Politico Europe. "We must be ready for a direct confrontation with Trump," an EU diplomat briefed on ongoing discussions told the newspaper. "He is in an aggressive mode, and we need to be geared up," he added. The newspaper notes that while European governments previously did not realize the seriousness...