President Donald Trump has announced that there is a “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.” While I’d struggle to phrase that much more vaguely, it appears that Greenland has offered some minor concessions to the United States, stopping far short of transferring Denmark's territory to the United States. 

The Trump administration is framing this move as the goal all along, and insisting that we trust Trump’s “art of the deal” that has seriously uprooted our relationship with our allies in recent weeks. However, Americans should not take this framing at face value. 

The president’s interest in acquiring Greenland was about his own push to build a legacy. The other arguments Trump has made with regard to Greenland have merit, but they are completely pretextual.  

In his second term, Trump has become obsessed with how he will be remembered. He’s putting his name all over buildings, covering the interior of the White House in his signature gaudy gold look, planning to erect a new ballroom and, in this foreign policy saga, becoming obsessed with being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. 

The obsession is why he desperately wants to be........

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