You’ve seen it on the news: President Donald Trump has been absurdly adamant that the United States needs Greenland, an island territory part of the Kingdom of Denmark, for its national security. To Trump, the only way to address the issue is for the United States to control the island, whether that be through purchasing it or annexing it via military force. Trump’s rationale for acquiring the island is if the United States doesn’t take it first, China or Russia will. He claims Denmark will not be capable of defending the island against either country on its own.

This argument does not stand. First of all, the United States already has the Pituffik Space Base on the island, and, based on the 1951 Defense of Greenland agreement, can send significant numbers of troops to Greenland. Even if American troops were not already there, Greenland is a member of NATO by way of Denmark, putting it unambiguously within the United States’ security umbrella, and China and Russia are very well aware of this.

Furthermore, the assertion that China or Russia plan to, or even have the capability to, take the island anytime soon is absurd. There is no intelligence shown that either country plans to take the island. With Russia rapidly degrading its military power in Ukraine and China having their naval power confined to the East China and South China Seas, it is highly unlikely Greenland is anywhere on their top ten list of priorities. So, instead of hurting our international reputation for Greenland, why don’t we cooperate with our allies in the Indo-Pacific, such as Australia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and South Korea, to keep China contained and continue to arm Ukraine to further weaken Russia? That would deprive both China and Russia from ever having the ability of getting close to the island to begin with, much less invade or conquer it.

Ironically, it is Trump’s abandonment of alliances in favor of unilateralism that puts Greenland more at risk.