The Trump administration’s aggressive push to acquire Greenland has infuriated America’s European allies, and for good reason. It threatens to destroy the NATO alliance, what’s left of the postwar order, and could even result in the outbreak of war—especially if American troops are deployed to the largely frozen island in the North Atlantic.

That’s a lot to risk for what ultimately isn’t much of a reward. The United States gets much, if not all, of what it would want from Greenland now. The Danish protectorate hosts a U.S. military base—jointly manned by the Air Force and Space Force, it handles missile defense and space surveillance—and is reportedly open to a larger American footprint on the island. So it’s already a strategic defense site and a hub to the Arctic for the U.S.

Why, then, is President Trump so eager to acquire the island? He laid it out in an interview with several New York Times reporters last week. Pressed why “owning” was so important, Trump insisted it was “psychologically needed for success.”

“I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do, whether you’re talking about a lease or a treaty,” he said. “Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document, that you can have a base.” Asked the obvious follow-up question—psychologically important for you or the U.S.?—he gave the obvious answer: “Psychologically important for me.”

It’s a revealing answer, one that explains why so much of U.S. domestic and foreign policy is an outgrowth of the president’s whims. But it also gets at something else that’s crucial........

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