President Trump’s overtures to Greenland might have shocked Denmark, but they certainly haven’t shocked historians of American territorial ambition. Talking about the rendition of President Maduro, Trump called it an example of the “Donroe Doctrine”: a repurposing of the 1823 “Monroe Doctrine” which had declared the Western Hemisphere closed to European interference. It meant that the United States of America, independent for less than a generation, would be the boss of its own backyard. Trump’s interest in Greenland is merely an extension of this.
