Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Trump strikes deal with Denmark to give U.S. security control of Greenland

Transcript

Trump strikes deal with Denmark to give U.S. security control of Greenland · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The United States and Denmark have reportedly made a deal
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: that would give the U.S. control over Greenland's security and
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: increase U.S. military presence on the island. Donald Trump said
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: that the agreement would grant the U.S., quote, permanent control
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: over security and all other needs in Greenland. Meanwhile, Greenland's
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: foreign affairs minister described the agreement as something that, quote,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: recognizes Greenland's position and the right to self-determination, adding that
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: it is a solution that is good for all parties.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: The deal follows months of threats from Trump to take Greenland,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: citing national security concerns. It's expected to be signed at
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the United Nations General Assembly next week. Okay, the claims
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of a new U.S. military presence in Greenland is being
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: watched by many. One of those people is retired Vice
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Admiral Mark Norman, who joins me now to talk more
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: about this. He's the former Vice Chief of the Defense
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Staff for the Canadian Armed Forces and fellow with the
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Canadian Global Affairs Institute, reaching him in Ottawa. Thank you, Mark,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: for your time.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on, Sarah.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: So the talk of Greenland and the U.S. involvement there,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: it almost felt like that had gone quiet. But clearly,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: things have been in the works. What do you make
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: of this new deal?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think, you know, it's good news for
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: a variety of reasons. The primary reason being that hopefully
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: we can put this unhelpful rhetoric of the last several
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: months behind us and we can move forward with... a
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: more mature and sophisticated relationship between the Kingdom of Denmark
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: and the White House. So I'm optimistic, but fundamentally I
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: don't think, without having seen a document, you and I
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: are discussing a truth social post on a Friday night,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: so we'll wait and see what the substance of this
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: looks like, but I think on the surface it's a
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: good thing.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: It's the age of Donald Trump, and so discussing a
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: truth social post on a Friday night has sort of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: become a bit of a norm, I have to say.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: But in terms of the military presence on Greenland, I
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: remember throughout all of the discussions, does the U.S. not
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: already have a military presence on Greenland? And correct me,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, I could be wrong. I'm just wondering how much,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: without knowing the details of this deal, how different this
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: is from what has already existed.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: I don't think we're going to see a big difference.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: And you are correct. There is a significant U.S. presence
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: in it. It fluctuates depending on the global security situation. But,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: you know, fundamentally, I'm not convinced that President Trump is
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: going to have any more access than the United States
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: has had since 1951 when their original treaty was agreed to.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: It's been updated three or four times since then. This
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: would be the latest update. But I do think that
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: beyond the U.S. military element of this, I think there's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: some interesting language associated with how I would characterize denying
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: or at least mitigating access by potentially unfriendly countries. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: that could be a step forward. Okay.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Well, I kind of want to pick up on that.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you feel like there was a need
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: for an updated deal with the United States, given that
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: an arrangement of some kind already did exist beyond, and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I say a need beyond the U.S. president's expressed desire
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: to incorporate Greenland?
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that's been the primary driver in this
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: whole discussion, Sarah, and to your point. But, you know,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: is it useful to have an update? Yeah, probably. I
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: think it's a It will have been about 15 years
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: or so since the last one was put in place.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: So that's always useful. I think it's in the interests
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: of the Kingdom of Denmark as well to get some
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: up-to-date language with respect to acknowledging the sovereignty and independence
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: of Greenland and Denmark itself. So, you know, let's wait
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: and see what this looks like when it comes out.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: But I'm generally positive. And as I mentioned a second ago,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I'm also intrigued to see What metrics or what mechanisms
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: could be in place to potentially deal with the United
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: States' desire for access to resources and their desire to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: keep Russian and potentially Chinese investment or influence out of
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: Greenland itself?
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that fine print, that will be interesting. Does
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: this mean anything or change anything for NATO? No.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I think it's a positive step forward in the broader
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: context of the alliance. I mean, Denmark was one of
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: the founding members in 1949, so they have a long
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: history of being a supporter of the alliance. I think
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: this is a good thing because it speaks more broadly
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: to collective defense. It speaks to the United States' willingness
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: to take a constructive role Yes, clearly there's terms and
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: conditions on that. But, you know, I think if we
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: strip away the politics and rhetoric of the White House,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I think this is probably a good thing going forward.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: And it's certainly a better development than many of the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: other problems that the White House has got themselves into
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: in the last few months.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: And there is a long list to go through and
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: we won't. You have previously talked about the importance of
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Canada investing in Arctic security. I mean, given this development,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: does it become even more important or what are your
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: thoughts there?
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're on the right track. We have
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: to keep moving. We have to accelerate what we're doing.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: The announcements up to this point have all been very constructive,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: but we do have a tendency in this country to
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: take way too long to actually get things done. But
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: I think it'll be very, very important that we show
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: significant progress. And I think of all of the things
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: that appear to be in what is forthcoming in this deal,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: according to President Trump, I think the issue around what
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: I would call perhaps a quid pro quo or some
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: sort of give and take relationship with respect to accessing
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: resources and minerals in exchange for security guarantees, I think
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: is an important element of this that Canada just needs
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: to keep a watchful eye on as we move forward
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: in our own relationship with the United States.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Retired Vice Admiral Mark Norman, great to get your thoughts.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Sarah. Have a good evening.