State Visit from the USA to Denmark: September 2-3, 2019 {Cancelled}

[Nico]

Follow up.

Are you able to watch this video?

It's President Trump's comments on why he cancelled: https://nyheder.tv2.dk/udland/2019-...riksens-udtalelse-for-vaemmelig-og-ikke-paent

The thing is that all this maneuver gave him the publicity and the world attention he cherishes. This story is, at the end, another platform to showcase his peculiar conception of the world and another good occasion to delight his fan base at home.
In a way Denmark, Greenland, the Danish Royal Family and the Danish people were totally used for the sole purpose of the self-promotion of President Trump.

Wich is, probably, the worse insult of them all ...

 

[Muhler]

Ridiculous IMO for the President to speak of respect after his actions which lack basic good manners.

Out of interest, would it have been possible for him to still have come on a State Visit and not meet the Prime Minister? I know her would of course have had to meet her at state dinners etc but if his issue was that sitting down and talking about Greenland wasn't going to end his way could he still have come anyway and just not had any long and meaningful discussions? It seems that in trying to snub the PM he has actually more snubbed the Queen (Who issues the invite and was to be -formally- the host)

Not really.
The protocol of a state visits includes meeting the government, a visit to the Parliament as well a meeting prominent politicians. President is not only head of state, he is also head of government, so protocol dictates that he also meet with his political counterpart, the Danish PM.
The meeting could of course have been brief and very formal, but he could not have avoided meeting with the PM.

Normally when countries wish to discuss something they sound out each other discreetly first and only when the negotiations are up and running does the government leaders come in.
US diplomats sound out Danish diplomats in order to find out whether there would be an interest in selling Greenland.
If there might by, other diplomats quietly contacts Danish diplomats to convey the message to the Danish Foreign Ministry the USA is interested in taking over/buying Greenland. Eventually all this quiet talk back and forth reach Foreign Minister level and by now there are direct talks about the details.
The details become a draft to negotiate about. (That can easily take many years.)
And it's about this level it becomes something that directly involves the head of governments. It's still not clear that it will amount to anything but now it's official.

President Trump skipped all this.
I'm pretty certain nether the US Congress nor the Treasury or foreign service was consulted.

 

[Isabella E.]

The thing is that all this maneuver gave him the publicity and the world attention he cherishes. This story is, at the end, another platform to showcase his peculiar conception of the world and another good occasion to delight his fan base at home.
In a way Denmark, Greenland, the Danish Royal Family and the Danish people were totally used for the sole purpose of the self-promotion of President Trump.

Wich is, probably, the worse insult of them all ...

Too right. I wish others in the US could see trump as clearly as you do.

 

[Frelinghighness]

Too right. I wish others in the US could see trump as clearly as you do.

Yes, you have hit it on the head to most of the country's chagrin.

 

[Tarlita]

The thing is that all this maneuver gave him the publicity and the world attention he cherishes. This story is, at the end, another platform to showcase his peculiar conception of the world and another good occasion to delight his fan base at home.
In a way Denmark, Greenland, the Danish Royal Family and the Danish people were totally used for the sole purpose of the self-promotion of President Trump.

Wich is, probably, the worse insult of them all ...

I also quite agree with your thinking here Nico. Grandiose sell promotion in the vain of any publicity is good publicity.
It also puts him on the world stage and takes the focus away from some of his domestic problems for a little while.
A totally unpredicable world leader, and if some decent credible solid candidates don't come forward soon with proper backing then I can see world leaders having to put up with this guy for another four years after the 2020 election.
Surely he won't bother going to Poland now. Or will he!

 

[Muhler]

An interesting angle from New York Times (which I know is very critical of President Trump.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/us/politics/trump-greenland-prime-minister.html

According to the article the President already lost interest in visiting DK, even before PM Frederiksen, called the whole thing absurd.
In other words this is an attempt of a face-saving way of avoiding a (superfluous) state visit to DK after the negative reaction from DK. It took a day or two before the DK PM responded officially.

In the meantime the DK Foreign Minister, Jeppe Kofoed, repeated that the whole thing was absurd, using the word that apparently offended President trump so much.
He has also had a talk with his American counterpart, Pompeo, and described these talks as "constructive."
Damage control is taking place on a number of levels right now. Because even though DK is taking the brunt right now, this is very much noted among other of the US allies, not least in Europe. And may very well be perceived as an indirect affront to all the European allies, commentators have pointed out.

- Right now we are waiting to see if President Trump will use a less than polite description of PM Frederiksen, such as he is known to utter.

It is one thing for a foreign country to "overlook" an insult on a political level, it's an entirely different matter if it becomes personal. Even for a small country that is pretty dependent of USA.

 

[rob2008]

I also quite agree with your thinking here Nico. Grandiose sell promotion in the vain of any publicity is good publicity.
It also puts him on the world stage and takes the focus away from some of his domestic problems for a little while.
A totally unpredicable world leader, and if some decent credible solid candidates don't come forward soon with proper backing then I can see world leaders having to put up with this guy for another four years after the 2020 election.
Surely he won't bother going to Poland now. Or will he!

You are right. This is how a spoilt bully acts - but just stealing attention all the time is dangerous for everyone else except the narcissist.

The insulting behaviour is permitted because of the status and aura of the 'leader of the free world'. However, there must come a breaking point. Insulting a small but totally honourable ally is simply the act of bully. The western world is based on the rule of law and on respect for constitutional conventions. Our world order is being eroded by its main defenders. Denmark's mainstream politicians and QMII are great role models.

 

[Mbruno]

It looks like Trump won’t let it go and today called the Danish PM “ nasty “. He seems to be enjoying the escalation of insults.

He also seems to be shifting the blame to the Danish PM for having publicly dismissed his Greenland purchase idea as “ absurd” beforehand , instead of simply saying “no” in private if and when the issue were raised. According to the US president, it was the Danish PM then who was disrespectful and undiplomatic.

 

[gerry]

Wait...so he waa...actually serious about buying Greenland?

?

This presidency is more entertaining than many current tv shows

Can Canada please suggest to buy Alaska from the US, i just want to see what happens...(maybe i should tweet this, that is the official protocol these days)

So does Denmark send him a bill now for the expenses they made for this cancelled visit?

Sorry for the snarky post, but it's a bit difficult to taje this all serious

Canada is also dealing with a very difficult American administration; buying
Alaska is not an option, see the attached NYTimes article on this very subject:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/opinion/alaska-climate-change.html?searchResultPosition=1

 

[JessRulz]

As this state visit is no longer going ahead, and this is not a political forum, this thread will now be closed.