There is no doubt in my mind that Trump is a real case study not only in world finance and economics. His greatest consistency is being inconsistent. And that uncertainty gives no pause to almost any prediction about his steps. However, he is the president of the most powerful nation in history (until today).
And therefore, his influence is such that even one of his badly combed eyebrows sparks a debate. Donald Trump talks too much, writes too much, and expresses too much...and he does not do too little. Among the many seemingly “absurd” things Trump says he will do - but has not yet done - is “occupy” Greenland. I believe there has never been so much mention of that place since the Napoleonic Wars. And why does Trump want a remote place that has 80% of its land permanently (for now) covered by ice?
Listen Greenlanders ! Maybe hegemony is boring.
Source edited, original image from Investing.com
It certainly is the largest island-continent on the planet after Australia, and its size is only slightly larger than Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom combined. More than 50,000 people live there under an autonomous status controlled by Denmark since 1953, but Greenland was given by Norway when they decided to separate from Denmark in the nineteenth century. So, if it's been there all this time, why does a place at the North Pole that is almost uninhabitable and has an economy based almost entirely on fishing matters now?
The surprising thing is that the appetite for Greenland doesn't belong to Trump.
The United States has been trying to buy Greenland for more than a century. But Trump has turned the story into a media issue, like almost everything else around 🗣 him.
What's the point of Greenland anyway? I understood it when I looked at a map of the world from the North Pole.
It's not about Greenland, it's about the Arctic.
Original image from Investing.com
The Arctic race is not just about for trading
So, if I were Trump, I wouldn't be sure I would do the same, but I would immediately understand what the Arctic means.
Power anxiety is like hunger: it's not taken away with food. Hunger is a consequence, not a cause. That's why Trump is just a piece on the board, but with power and hunger. He won't stop. I wouldn't either. It's just business. It's about being a winner or loser.
The pace of global warming is increasing the number of ice-free days in the Arctic route for Russia, which has more than half of the world's Arctic border. China, meanwhile, has the world's largest shipping fleet. Between the Russian icebreakers and the Chinese ships, they would have control of global trade in the future, because the Arctic route reduces sailing days by more than half and transportation costs by almost 70%, which means changing the whole balance of logistics chains.
It´s worth noting that more than 80% of commodities exchanged in the international market are transported via maritime routes, constituting approximately 40% of the overall global economy. Accordingly, container shipping was valued at around US $14 trillion in 2019.
The price of products is reduced and whoever dominates sea transportation will dominate world trade. I would have the power of capital at my side.
Greenland could therefore become a strategic and financial asset for the U.S., making the dollar an even more powerful weapon of global influence. Some are already predicting a positive scenario for the dollar, if the US becomes an Arctic leader alongside Russia.
However, it wouldn't be enough to take Greenland.
I would think of the Panama Channel and the Ushuaia endpoint in Argentina (and I will lovely comment on this soon 😉). Only then would I have control of almost all the seas, and therefore, of the supply chains.
Free source edited from Shutterstock.com/
I am also already seriously working to move China away from Mexico. Several promising projects, such as the Hofusan Industrial Park, on the Mexican border with the US, were backed by Chinese companies. It´s known the US debt is well over twice the debt of the next largest, China, which is sitting on 16 trillion in debt - thanks for such outstanding analysis - and reserve currencies aren't guaranteed. That's why I'm moving fast.
However, Trump's tariffs put Mexican businessmen in check, and the Chinese have put their foot on the brake for the moment with Mexico, to focus on Peru and South America.
Thus, Mexico seems to have decided between the stick and the carrot. Perhaps has some "feelings" for its neighbor Texas, the former "Mexican America" that is preparing to receive the mega investment of 500 billion dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructures of the "Stargate" project and could turn Texas into the new Silicon Valley and Mexico into a hub for regional technological development.
The Chinese are moving into the Pacific along the west coast of South America through their port infrastructures; however, Latin America is not the largest market, but the “garden” of Europe. Meanwhile, in Africa and Latin America, there are hardly any “seeds”, and still no “flowers”.
Maybe it is all just fiction, or the plot of a fantasy film produced in Hollywood or Bollywood (I will not forget India, just wait a few days 👀). But no. It is real.
So, if I were Trump, I would sneak into Greenland and create a protectorate (Puerto Rico style) taking advantage of the autonomy regime they have there. I would do business with Russia to try to separate it from China, and take advantage of its colossal territory and energy power to corner Europe, which still has a lot of arrogance.
If I were Trump I would choose to make a deal with Russia, until it suits me. And then I would discard it or disintegrate it: Russia is still too big after the USSR disappeared.
So, my anxiety about Greenland would be only the tip of the iceberg: only what people can see above the water.
And you, what would you do with Greenland if you were Trump?
🔔 Find the egg. Definitively, it´s not a game. But I am listening 😎
PS: This is my second post on Hive, and I am delighted to find this community on Finance and Economics, and trends shaping our world every single day 🙏