I am losing friends to disease and death. America is losing friends to arrogance and idiocy. For me, the personal losses are irreplaceable. There will never be another Frankie T., just like there will never be another Deli for Great Barrington.
As for America, our losses are both foreign and domestic. And the costs are incalculable.
The Canadians seem to understand far better than most that Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their MAGA minions are not all of us. Canadians have been family in a way the Panamanians and Danes and Greenlanders have not. Lacking that long-earned benefit of the doubt, it is completely understandable why, considering the most recent boorish behavior of Donald Trump and JD Vance, Greenlanders are a bit less forgiving. And their annoyance and growing resistance to American talk of absorption, even invasion, is exactly what we deserve. You couldn’t ask for a worst display of audacity and ugly Americanism:
As The Washington Post described it:
Vance uses Greenland visit to slam Denmark, as Trump escalates rhetoric … President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his desire to control Greenland, significantly escalating his rhetoric about obtaining the territory as Vice President JD Vance was dispatched to the far reaches of the Arctic to admonish Denmark over its stewardship of the strategically important land mass. ‘We need Greenland, very importantly for national security,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. ‘We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of, “Do you think we can do without it?” We can’t.’
His remarks came as Vance was visiting the semiautonomous territory, a brief trip in which he remarked with an expletive about how cold it was, emphatically thanked the American service members serving there and warned the world to take seriously Trump’s desire for the land. ‘The president said we have to have Greenland, and I think we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland,’ he said during visit to Pituffik Space Base, a U.S. Space Force base on the northwestern coast of the island. ‘We cannot just ignore this place. We cannot just ignore the president’s desires.’
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, responded to Vance’s comments by saying his government was ‘open to criticism’ but did not ‘appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered … This is not how you speak to your close allies,’ he said.
[Emphasis added.]
Clearly, JD Vance is not the man I would choose to conduct diplomacy. How can anyone tasked with representing the United States imagine such behavior would impress anyone except maybe his wife and Donald Trump.
The Post continues:
The island, with a population of only 56,000, is in a strategically important corridor as China, Russia, Europe and the United States all eye it amid a melting Arctic. ‘Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world,’ Trump said on Friday. ‘And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.’
Vance’s trip was originally billed as a broader cultural tour but was scaled back after an outcry from locals and instead amounted to a several-hour-long visit at an isolated U.S. space base. He was joined by his wife, second lady Usha Vance, as well as Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
I am guessing Greenlanders have a better understanding of where they are located and their geopolitical importance than Donald Trump does. So just maybe he should hold off on the explanation.
The New York Times explains why the vice president and our national security advisor blew their chance for a warm welcome:
President Trump has been less than subtle in his insistence that the United States will ‘get’ Greenland one way or another … By the time he uttered those words in the Oval Office, the highest-level American political expeditionary force ever to set foot on the vast territory had already landed to inspect the real estate prospects. But they were confined inside the fence of a remote, frozen American air base, the only place protesters could not show up …
When Mr. Vance’s plane touched down in the midday sunshine, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it was minus 3 degrees outside. Mr. Vance used a jocular and slightly vulgar epithet to describe the temperature, where he was wearing jeans and a parka, but no hat or gloves. ‘Nobody told me,’ he said to the troops at the Pituffik Space Base as he entered their mess hall for lunch. The U.S. Space Force Guardians, who run what was once known after World War II as Thule Air Force Base, broke out laughing.
But for all the humor, the trip was simultaneously a reconnaissance mission and a passive-aggressive reminder of Mr. Trump’s determination to fulfill his territorial ambitions, no matter what the obstacles … Yet one of the mysteries hanging over the Vance tour is how far Mr. Trump is willing to go to achieve his goal. That has been the question since early January, when Mr. Trump, awaiting his inauguration, was asked whether he would rule out economic or military coercion to get his way. ‘I’m not going to commit to that,’ he said. ‘You might have to do something.’
Not since the days of William McKinley, who engaged in the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century and ended up with U.S. control of the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico, has an American president-elect so blatantly threatened the use of force to expand the country’s territorial boundaries. And the visit on Friday appeared designed to make that clear, without quite repeating the threat.
Mr. Vance is the first sitting vice president to visit a land that Americans have coveted for more than a century and a half. The fact that he was accompanied by the embattled national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and the energy secretary, Chris Wright, was clearly designed to underscore the strategic rationale that Mr. Trump cites as a justification for his territorial ambitions. Before the visit, the leader of Greenland suggested that he viewed Mr. Waltz’s presence, in particular, as a show of Mr. Trump’s aggressive intent. ‘What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland?’ Múte Bourup Egede, Greenland’s 38-year-old prime minister, told the local newspaper Sermitsiaq on Sunday. ‘The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us.’
Clearly, the Trump administration would like Americans to believe that absorbing Greenland would be good for everyone. But there is a reason JD Vance and Michael Waltz found themselves far from the citizens of Greenland and relegated to our remote air base. The first version of this journey intended to feature Second Lady Usha Vance and one of her sons checking out the local culture and Greenland’s dog-sled race, simultaneously spreading some American good cheer along the way. Well, it soon became undeniable that Greenlanders had had more than they could stand of Donald Trump’s arrogance. And the locals made it ever more obvious that they were in no mood for any of it.
The Times adds:
Mr. Egede and other Greenland officials made it clear that the Americans were not welcome for a visit … As it became clear that the roads around Nuuk, the capital, would be lined with protesters, the visit was moved just to the Space Force base, where distance from any population center and high fences assured there would be no visible dissent.
The reality was even more humiliating. It wasn’t just that there would be protests in the street, but the fact was that the United States advance team couldn’t find a single family in the country that was willing to graciously host Usha Vance. As Greenlander Orla Joelsen posted on X:
It didn’t take JD Vance long to prove those Greenlanders right. And so, the Times notes:
Mr. Vance’s audience was American troops, not Greenlanders, once his wife’s trip was turned into a vice-presidential mission. But he was clearly talking to a larger audience when, before getting back on his plane and returning to warmer climes in Washington, he made the case that the United States would be a far better steward for Greenland than Denmark has been for several hundred years.
‘Let’s be honest,’ he said. ‘This base, the surrounding area, is less secure than it was 30, 40, years ago, because some of our allies haven’t kept up as China and Russia have taken greater and greater interest in Greenland, in this base, in the activities of the brave Americans right here.’
He charged that Denmark, and much of Europe, has not ‘kept pace with military spending, and Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and from other nations … Our message to Denmark is very simple, you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,’ Mr. Vance said, all but goading Greenlanders into declaring independence from Denmark. ‘You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful land mass, filled with incredible people.’
In an exchange with reporters, Mr. Vance seemed to acknowledge that the drive to acquire the territory had as much to do with Mr. Trump as the national security threat. ‘We can’t just ignore this place,’ he said at one point. ‘We can’t just ignore the president’s desires. But most importantly, we can’t ignore what I said earlier, which is the Russian and Chinese encroachment in Greenland.’ Just before he left, Mr. Vance was asked if military plans had been drafted to take Greenland if it declines to become an American protectorate. ‘We do not think that military force is ever going to be necessary,’ he said. ‘We think the people of Greenland are rational and good, and we think we’re going to be able to cut a deal, Donald Trump-style, to ensure the security of this territory, but also the United States of America.’
[Emphasis added.]
Vance was there to remind them, just in case the Greenlanders didn’t realize it, that what was “rational” and “good” was now all about America. As horrifying as it is, Trump and Vance have unleashed a new thoroughly unapologetic arrogance throughout the land. In response to a recent outbreak of condescension, an appearance by U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R – Texas) on Fox News, Greenlander Orla Joelsen posted on March 29, 2025:
How about we walk a few short yards in the shoes of the Greenlanders And pretend that they have been paying attention to what Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk, and DOGE have been doing to America, the land Rep. Hunt still imagines is the greatest place in the world.
Trump and Musk have been firing thousands upon thousands of hard-working Americans without any real cause, firing the doctors and scientists who have been working hard to prevent and treat diseases like COVID and measles. They are firing those who have been working hard to clean up polluted rivers and toxic-waste dumps. They are grabbing migrants waiting for their asylum hearings off the street without explanation or the chance to go before a court, then flying them to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Perhaps they watched our Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsti Noem offer yet another demonstration of American obliviousness, reeking of bad taste and arrogance as she posed in front of that dreadful hellhole of a prison, seemingly unconcerned that we shipped them there without a hearing or ability to consult an attorney. She was either unaware or did not care that she was wearing a watch worth more than 10 times the annual income of ordinary El Salvadorans:
When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem visited El Salvador’s most notorious mega-prison on Wednesday, she sported an eye-catching piece on her wrist that experts have identified as an 18-karat gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch that sells for about $50,000.
The high-end Swiss watch lent a striking contrast to Noem’s tour of the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where imprisoned men watched silently from a crowded cell as she recorded a video for a social media post warning undocumented immigrants not to enter the United States. ‘If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face,’ Noem said.
The Post continues:
Noem’s choice of watch kicked off a race among internet sleuths to identify it and infuriated immigration advocates, who said the juxtaposition was insensitive to the harsh reality of mass imprisonment and deportation. ‘You’re in front of all these people in a very poor country, who are in the bottom 10 or 20 percent of their country … and it looks like you’re just flaunting your wealth while you flaunt your freedom,’ said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. ‘This is an administration that is trying to be populist, anti-elite, appeal to the common man,’ he added. Meanwhile, there’s ‘people stacked up like cordwood behind her.’
Yes, Trump and Vance seem remarkably clueless about what they are offering Greenland as they and the rest of the world watch as they dismantle everything that once worked in America. The rest of the world is watching, sadly more closely than many Americans, as Trump, Vance, and Musk destroy the American economy and threaten the livelihood of others around the world as they impose counterproductive tariffs on friendly neighbors and trading partners.
They are replacing foreign assistance and USAID with threats to take the Panama Canal by force, threats to turn the proud, independent nation of Canada into our 51st state. They are determined to allow Putin to keep some of the territory he has seized illegally from Ukraine.
So what exactly do the Greenlanders have to look forward to if Donald Trump and JD Vance have their way? And what should Greenlanders expect if they become Americans?
Are they looking at how Trump and Vance will take care of our children? How about their new Director of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who consistently maligns the vaccinations that have saved millions, including the vaccine for a deadly disease that can kill children. Yes, measles. Thanks to Kennedy and his fellow anti-vaxers, immunization for measles is down to dangerous levels.
According to the Yale School of Public Health, measles vaccination rates for Texas kindergartners have fallen to dangerous levels. That is important because there is an epidemic in Texas:
In her recent post on “Your Local Epidemiologist,” Dr. Katelyn Jetelina offers more information on the spreading the spread of Measles:
The panhandle outbreak is exploding—it’s now up to 476 cases, with more than 73 cases reported in 3 days in Texas. This outbreak has now spilled over to three states: Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas, where cases are all still growing. It also spilled over into Mexico (Chihuahua state), which now has up to 95 cases. Meanwhile, children given supplemental doses of cod liver oil and Vitamin A from their parents are showing up in the hospital in West Texas for liver toxicity.
Thanks in part to Kennedy’s misinformation, the U.S. is now facing a growing measles epidemic. And his uninformed advice to replace vaccination with high-level doses of Vitamin A has resulted in unnecessary risk for children in Texas:
Trump, Vance, Musk, and Kennedy are ensuring that today’s risks will only get worse—cancelling grants, curtailing research, making life so difficult accomplished epidemiologists are leaving before they are fired:
The Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official, Dr. Peter Marks, resigned under pressure Friday and said that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aggressive stance on vaccines was irresponsible and posed a danger to the public.
‘It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,’ Dr. Marks wrote to Sara Brenner, the agency’s acting commissioner. He reiterated the sentiments in an interview, saying: ‘This man doesn’t care about the truth. He cares about what is making him followers.’
Dr. Marks resigned after he was summoned to the Department of Health and Human Services Friday afternoon and told that he could either quit or be fired, according to a person familiar with the matter. Dr. Marks led the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which authorized and monitored the safety of vaccines and a wide array of other treatments, including cell and gene therapies.
The new administration is determined to spend less on and do little to protect public health by drastically cutting federal funding and limiting federal support to cities and small towns across the country:
To make matters worse, on Tuesday April 1, 2025, Kennedy fired workers at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As Dr. Jetelina writes:
Today thousands of health workers at the CDC and FDA lost their jobs — effective immediately. Some found out when they tried to badge in, only to be denied entry. Twelve senior leaders were offered reassignment—with just 24 hours to decide. In other words, fired without being formally fired.
It’s cruel and unnecessary—and that’s the point. It’s also dangerous.
Dr. Jetelina continues:
There’s no question that health institutions can be run more efficiently. I spent the last three years inside the CDC pushing for change—fighting for innovation, better systems, and clearer communication. I agree with some cuts and reorganization. Reimagining public health is essential. But tearing it down with no plan to rebuild isn’t transformation. It’s sabotage.
The ultimate justification for these cuts is cost savings. But these cuts do not make financial sense. Federal workers make up less than 1% of the HHS budget. And, public health programs are all about prevention—which is not only good for our health but can be much cheaper than treating disease. For every $1 spent on flu vaccines for the elderly, $60 are saved. For every $1 spent in NIH funding, $4.25 is added to the local economies. Cutting these programs may save a dollar today, but when people start to get sick because of eliminated programs, we’ll pay many times more in health care costs down the road, much out of the government’s pocket for Medicare. We’re borrowing from our future selves with far too high an interest rate: in dollars, in health, and in lives. In the meantime, the U.S. is giving a big gift to huge corporations that will either step in and privatize or take advantage of this moment, like Big Tobacco.
In so many ways, it is not only children who are being put at risk in the new MAGA America. Trump and Musk and Kennedy are cutting the heart out of those very institutions responsible for protecting public health—the warning signs are everywhere. The New York Times just reported:
The Times wrote:
It’s not just the high price of eggs or the rising cost of housing that is contributing to Americans’ unhappiness over the cost of living. Health care remains stubbornly unaffordable for millions of people, according to a new survey released Wednesday that underscores the struggle many people have in paying for a doctor’s visit or a prescription drug — even before any talk of cutting government coverage.
In the survey, 11 percent of people said they could not afford medication and care within the past three months, the highest level in the four years the survey has been conducted. More than a third of those surveyed, representing some 91 million adults, said if they were to need medical care, they would not be able to pay for it. The survey, conducted from mid-November to late December 2024 by West Health and Gallup, also showed widening disparities for Black and Hispanic adults and for those making the least amount of money. A quarter of those with an annual household income of less than $24,000 said they could not afford or access care within the past three months.
So as Greenland tries to figure out what life would be like for them as a wholly owned subsidiary of the United States, we have seen what some recent policy choices have meant for Americans. As for taking care of the body and the recent retreats from providing quality healthcare, Greenland probably won’t get the help it needs from America. Their publically financed healthcare system faces similar challenges: disparities based on income and ethnicity, a significant mental health problem, and problems with addiction and suicides.
But how about the spirit and what is happening to the soul of America? Here is what President Trump has to say about the impact of his decision to impose tariffs on so many of our trading partners:
Here is how The Washington Post described his attitude:
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he ‘couldn’t care less’ if car prices spike because of his 25 percent tariffs on auto imports, saying the levies will prompt more people to buy American cars. ‘I couldn’t care less. I hope [foreign automakers] raise their prices, because if they do, people are going to buy American-made cars. We have plenty,” he said in the interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker that aired Saturday.
During the interview, he said he did not warn U.S. automakers against hiking prices on their cars as reported by some news organizations. He said his message to industry leaders was: ‘Congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money. If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.’
It was a remarkable, if politically perilous, statement from Trump amid ballooning costs on a wide range of goods. Voters’ economic anxieties propelled Trump to the White House as critics complained his predecessor wasn’t sensitive enough to the impact of persistent inflation on everyday Americans. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed that prices would begin to come down on the first day of his presidency, but they remain stubbornly high, with potentially more economic pain in coming days as more tariffs take effect.
[Emphasis added.]
The Truskmumpian presidency has brought forth a tsunami of counterproductive policies. We have offended almost all of our allies, exacting trade policies that will needlessly punish their economies and ours. We are sacrificing the brave Ukrainians to appease Vladimir Putin. Here at home, President Trump has teamed up with multi-billionaire Elon Musk and DOGE to hollow out many of the institutions the majority of Americans rely on.
As for Greenland, just days after JD Vance’s embarrassing trip there, they just can’t help themselves:
The Washington Post elaborates:
The White House is preparing an estimate of what it would cost the federal government to control Greenland as a territory, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, the most concrete effort yet to turn President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire the Danish island into actionable policy.
While Trump’s demands elicited international outrage and a rebuke from Denmark, White House officials have in recent weeks taken steps to determine the financial ramifications of Greenland becoming a U.S. territory, including the cost of providing government services for its 58,000 residents, the people said.
At the White House budget office, staff have sought to understand the potential cost to maintain Greenland if it were acquired, two of the people said. They are also attempting to estimate what revenue to the U.S. Treasury could be gained from Greenland’s natural resources.
I can’t think of a better way to convince the Greenlanders to scream as loudly as possible: “Donald Trump, No thanks!”
