Threatening a poodle

While handing strategic minerals to Russia

Strongman Act, ©2025 William L. Brown.

There should be more to journalism than quoting Trump’s tweets.

Take the coverage of Trump’s statements on Greenland, for example. The media reported the statements, and some reactions to the statements, but little else.

Trump is supposedly hot to buy or seize the Danish-owned island of Greenland to secure a strategic location and strategic mineral deposits—rare earth minerals important to modern technology. His refusal to rule out military action to accomplish this is a showy, yet pointless, signal to the world that American dominance will continue through his upcoming administration.

It’s pointless because Denmark is a NATO ally. And the US already has a military base in Greenland, and Denmark. This, at least has been reported. Not so widely reported is that though large rare earth mineral deposits have been detected in Greenland, there are currently no rare-earth mineral mines. The US already has mining agreement with Greenland, by the way - as reported in Swiss publication NZZ

Shadow Fleet, ©2025 William L. Brown. Russia uses a fleet of hundreds of decrepit cargo-ships and tankers to get around sanctions, and for espionage and sabotage.

By the way, the most recent elections in Greenland were in effect a referendum on mining. Mining interests lost. Trump is setting the stage in Greenland for an indigenous-peoples vs mining conflict. What the media hasn’t reported is that Trump could have, but didn’t, use Ukraine to send the same signals—a dominant America, securing strategic resources— in a more convincing way.

“Ukraine, in turn, is also among the most richly endowed European countries when it comes to rare earth metals and lithium reserves, with estimates of the value of these deposits ranging from $3 trillion-$11.5 trillion. In 2021, the European Union signed a strategic partnership on raw materials with Ukraine, which generated a surge in interest from private companies. Given Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, combined with Russia’s own ambitions to bolster its market influence over this space, some experts have questioned to what degree Russia’s current aggression against its southwestern neighbor may have been driven by a desire to lay claim to those Ukrainian reserves.”

The quote is from a Middle East Institute report published 2022. The BBC radio series The Scramble for Rare Earths devoted it’s September 2022 episode to Ukraine’s rare earth deposits and Russia’s interest in securing them.

Oil Spill ©2025 William L. Brown. One Russian ship sank, and another ran aground in a storm. Both were carrying oil. About 2400 tonnes of oil leaked into the Kerch Strait between the Azov and Black Seas near Crimea.

Trump is thumping his chest about Greenland, refusing to rule out military force, like a lion bravely threatening a poodle. It would be far more convincing and to the point if he would do the same for Ukraine and secure the mineral deposits there for western democracies.

The Big Act, ©2025 William L. Brown

The story the media misses is that his clownish attempt to look strong is actually a demonstration of weakness, he's folding like a ripe banana to Russian aggression. The ceasefire deals he and his appointees-in-waiting have hinted at—partition or trading territory for peace—will likely result with Russia in control of the Donbas region it now occupies. That's where most of the mineral/metal deposits are. If Russia keeps it, all those resources are going to our enemies—thanks to Trump.

This Greenland circus act will thrill his constituency, but it is not going to impress or intimidate the most important audience - Russia and China.

America's global dominance is slipping away and Trump hasn't even taken the oath of office yet.

Scooter to Hell ©2024 William L. Brown. Ukraine’s security agency assassinated Russian general Igor Kirillov using a bomb-rigged electric scooter. Kirillov was accused of being a war criminal due to his use of chemical warfare.