My current favorite foreign policy analyst - George Friedman - writes about Trump's actions vis-a-vis Greenland, admitting he is puzzled thereby.
I must confess that I do not understand the reasons or forces behind Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on European countries that are not willing to cede Greenland to the United States.
He explains in detail why the US can have all the access to Greenland it could want without having actual ownership, and his analysis seems spot on. But Trump's motives elude his decoding.
I have a hunch why Trump is acting in a punitive fashion toward NATO allies. I'm guessing he has long felt that, since they recovered from World War II, the allies have treated us shabbily, believed our generosity was their due, and have not tugged the forelock while doing it.
In medieval terms, they are satraps who show insufficient deference to their emperor, and he's letting them know he has noticed their insolence, and is punishing it.
Understand, I am not defending his punitive tariffs, merely guessing at his motive therefore. I can imagine future historians viewing NATO as an empire of sorts, with the US being the imperial nation. It isn't much of stretch to see it this way, and you have to think it's a view that appeals to Trump's grandiose streak.
