Donald Trump in fiery call with Denmark's prime minister over Greenland

https://www.ft.com/content/ace02a6f-3307-43f8-aac3-16b6646b60f6

by belter • 1 year ago

24 11 1 year ago

ft.com

duxup2• 1 year ago

All this arbitrary machismo stuff seems so unnecessary, childish.

This is like something an elementary school kid says "Yeah we could take over Greenland".

Terr_2• 1 year ago

It's actually part of a purposeful strategy: Exhaust people with asymmetric bullshit, and it becomes easier to grab power. Brandolini's law, weaponized.

Consider this passage, published 70 years ago now:

‘[...] It was all rigmarole, of course, but it consumed all one’s energies, coming on top of the work one really wanted to do. You can see how easy it was, then, not to think about fundamental things. One had no time.’
‘Those,’ I said, ‘are the words of my friend the baker. “One had no time to think. There was so much going on.”’
‘Your friend the baker was right,’ said my colleague. ‘The dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway. I do not speak of your “little men,” your baker and so on; I speak of my colleagues and myself, learned men, mind you. Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to. Nazism have us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about—we were decent people—and kept us so busy with continuous changes and “crises” and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the “national enemies,” without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. Unconsciously, I suppose, we were grateful. Who wants to think?’

-- They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45

bell-cot• 1 year ago

Perhaps.

But Pres. Trump enjoys dominating the news - whether he's actually up to something, or just having fun by making a scene.

duxup2• 1 year ago

I don't doubt it's his "style", and I think the effect is as you describe.

I do not know if he is conscious of it / it is a thought through strategy... or something else. He seems straight up falling into an old age involved cognitive decline. At times he sabotaged what seemed like initiates last term by praising a bill, then angrily claiming he would veto it, his own party members not sure what was going on. Some of his legal troubles don't really benefit him at all and he steps in it again. His words don't even make sense together at times and even those around him seem confused.

I'm just not sure how much is thoughtful strategy, or just old age problems that are effectively just childishness.

Juliate• 1 year ago

It's a disgrace, this really makes US Americans pass for brutal fools.

throwaway784989• 1 year ago

We have clearly become brutal fools. I hope the civilized world can successfully defend against us.

sema4hacker• 1 year ago

At the 12 second mark, https://youtu.be/0_0M_5tgLT8 says Trump wanted to buy Greenland and failed, but the Prime Minister of Denmark is a fan of MrBeast, who will manage the purchase on April 24, 2033.

johnneville• 1 year ago

https://archive.today/z4NuJ

Finnucane• 1 year ago

To fulfill the next step of his historical model, he must do an anschluss.

Donald Trump in fiery call with Denmark's prime minister over Greenland

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