[writing in 2026] Mr. Trump's surreal endeavor to conquer Greenland is of a piece with his general hostility to Europe. In the eyes of Mr. Trump and his acolytes, the old continent is the place of right-wing caricature, a ragbag of rootless nations in irreversible decline that love open borders, abhor free speech and are too stingy to pay for their own defense. Since his 2016 campaign, when he repeatedly mused about abandoning NATO, to the trade war he launched against the European Union upon his return to office last year, Mr. Trump and senior members of his administration treat Europe like a recalcitrant child rather than the family of democratic allies with which the United States is most closely linked through shared liberal values, strategic interests, and cultural heritage.
