Last week, looking for a movie to watch on a flight, I settled on re-watching “Titanic“.

In one of the scenes the Captain becomes an almost absurd figure when he ignores the fact that his unsinkable ship is indeed sinking, and he stands holding the wheel as the iceberg crashes on top of him.

These days there is another captain absurdly confident in his “ship“.

Captain Trump has his eyes set on the icy expanse of Greenland.

He claims that control of Greenland is “critical to national security“ but it feels like Trump has decided to steer the ship of state straight into an iceberg of political hubris.

The Iceberg called Greenland

And Greenland might just be that iceberg.

“We’re the greatest country in the world,” insists Trump.

Much like the Titanic’s owners declared their huge iron ship to be the best. However, just as Titanic’s captain underestimated the power of a humble iceberg, Trump seems to have underestimated the cold reality of Greenlandic sovereignty.

The Donald, with all the swagger of a captain who believes he can navigate anything, recently floated his grand idea to “take ownership” of Greenland.

Let’s not forget he has also threatened to retake the Panama Canal, suggested that Canada become the 51st state, and called for renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Fact free talk

On the subject of Greenland, Trump, in his usual fact-free way, said, “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to Greenland, but if they do, they should give it up because I’m talking about protecting the free world.

You don’t even need binoculars, you look outside, you have China ships all over the place. You have Russia ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen.”

Well, what Trump’s confusing rhetoric forgets is that Greenland is not just some foreign piece of real estate there for the taking. Denmark’s PM, Mette Frederiksen, who dealt with this same demand from Trump back in 2019, quickly shut down any thought of selling the island.

Yet Trump, much like the Titanic’s captain, ignores the cry “Iceberg ahead!”, and plows forward, standing at the wheel eating a McDonald’s seal-burger and plotting a commercial future for his new piece of real estate.

Ice-cold no

It’s as though Trump is piloting the ship, convinced that nothing can sink his ambitions.

However he may soon find out that it’s not the size of the ship, but the size of an iceberg you underestimate, that makes the difference.

Greenland’s reaction to Trump’s proposal was swift and ice-cold. Their leaders are looking more toward independence, not annexation.

Greenland’s PM, Múte Egede, said, “We want to be Greenlandic, not American.”

It’s clear that Greenland isn’t interested in being the location for Trump Tower North.

In Trump’s mind, Greenland is an addition to his empire. A demonstration to his supporters that he’s capable of getting anything he wants, and a crude way of distracting them from the real issues, healthcare, homelessness and unemployment.

Trump Jr., made an unexpected trip there, apparently as a “tourist”, but possibly to plan Trump-branded ski lodges, glacier golfing and, instead of the MAGA baseball caps he handed out to bewildered Nuuk residents, he probably wished he’d brought fur-lined MAGA caps, “Make Greenland Great Again.”

Remember Titanic

In the end, Trump’s Greenland dream will face the same fate as the Titanic—a grand vision that crashes into the iceberg of geopolitical reality.

So, while Trump dreams of turning Greenland into some kind of icy new resort, he might want to remember the fate of the Titanic.

Hubris, even when it involves an unsinkable ship or an unsinkable country, can still be taken down by a tiny but mighty force— an iceberg called “sovereignty”, and with a solid “no thanks.”