Territorial expansion has long been a feature of statecraft, often justified through economic, strategic, or ideological reasoning. Adolf Hitler’s Lebensraum policy, articulated in Mein Kampf, advocated for Germany’s territorial expansion into Eastern Europe to secure resources and living space for the German people. Nearly a century later, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark—while differing in execution and rationale—similarly reflects a persistent theme in history: the pursuit of territorial acquisition, often by any means necessary.
TRUMP and his loyalists stopped being funny a long time ago
“It is not the U.S. of Obama, it is not the U.S. of Clinton, it is a different U.S.,” remarked Ebrahim Rasool, former South African ambassador to the United States, after being declared persona non grata and expelled by the Trump administration1. This statement should serve as a sobering reminder to people on both sides of the Atlantic—but especially on its western shores—who remain oblivious to the dangers posed by the rhetoric and actions of the current occupant of the White House and his minions.
This is not a joke. Calling former Canadian Prime Minister “Governor” Trudeau while suggesting Canada should be the 51st state, offering to take control of Gaza under the pretext of reconstruction, and declaring during the State of the Union address, “One way or another, we’re gonna get it [Greenland],”—these are not the words of a television host, but of the sitting U.S. president. Trump ceased being amusing a long time ago. Perhaps it is time he started taking matters of territorial integrity and national sovereignty of other countries more seriously. One can only wonder how Trump would feel for he and his country to be at the butt-end of such ‘jokes’…
Furthermore, consider the unsettling response when Tesla CEO—a white South African and overachiver immigrant—gave what appeared to be a Nazi salute. Meanwhile, less successful immigrants are being deported, while Musk roams the halls of the Pentagon and increasingly involves himself in the political affairs of other countries, including Germany, the UK, and Romania, to name just a few. And yet, people remain amused. But the historical parallels are chilling. Laughter, after all, can quickly turn to sorrow.
The Lesson of Lebensraum
In Mein Kampf, Hitler devoted considerable attention to what he deemed a crucial issue: Lebensraum, or “living space.” He dismissed Germany’s past colonial ambitions in Africa as misguided, arguing instead that territorial expansion should be sought within Europe. “The soil of Europe is already occupied,” he acknowledged, but then rationalized: “Nature has not reserved this soil for the future possession of any particular nation or race; on the contrary, this soil exists for the people who possess the force to take it.” And if the current inhabitants resist? “Then the law of self-preservation goes into effect; and what is refused through amicable methods, it is up to the fist to take.”2
Hitler, at least in rhetoric, suggested that “amicable methods” should be attempted first. This was precisely the approach—though hardly amicable—taken with Austria and Czechoslovakia. Trump’s Greenland proposal was initially framed as a pragmatic real estate acquisition, driven by economic interests cloaked in geopolitical arguments and appeals to “world peace.” But is he still pursuing his goal through diplomatic means? For how long? And what if those fail, then what?
Denmark, along with Greenland’s autonomous government, has made it clear that Greenland is not for sale. But this raises a critical question: How is this situation—where Denmark has limited means to resist U.S. pressure—fundamentally different from Russia’s actions in Ukraine?
SOURCES
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/23/south-african-ambassador-expelled-from-us-welcomed-home-by-supporters ↩︎
- William Shirer, The rise and fall of the Third Reich, Fawcett World Library, New York, 1970 ↩︎
The Undaunted Historian 
Leave a comment