Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw • Hacker News Board

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#11

Post by phs318u » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:21 PM UTC

mooglevich wrote: post #10

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

For what it's worth, I don't know a single person that thinks this is a good idea. However, I'm a software developer living in NYC, so the context of my socioeconomic/cultural bubble isn't representative of the average American's. A few folks have already posted good points. This is a classic Trump/asshole negotiation tactic. This distracts from the clamor to release the Epstein files. But what I think is pretty depr…

Thank you for taking the time to write this. I feel for you and understand (though disagree with) the nihilism of your friends. As an outsider, it saddens me to bear witness to the beginning of the sunset of the American epoch. What a bold, noble experiment the USA was!

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#12

Post by Ancalagon » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:21 PM UTC

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

Well, if how r/conservative is reacting is anything to go by, even the most hardcore MAGA and Russian bots do not seem to agree with this.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#13

Post by microtonal » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:29 PM UTC

bediger4000 wrote: post #9

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

do the people who voted for Trump actually back him on this specific issue? Please excuse me if I am repeating something you've heard. Some fraction of the people who voted for Trump don't back him on this, or maybe any other issue. The US mass media is owned by oligarchs, and the oligarchs like Trump, so he has not been reported on completely or honestly since 2017, early in his first term. That fraction voted for s…

This part of Trump's voters would back anything he'd say or do, regardless of relation to reality. Luckily, the oligarch owned press is nearly omnipresent, and does not report honestly or completely on Trump, his behavior, so that fraction of voters can keep on believing in Trump as God King.

But the oligarchs would probably not be happy about a devastating trade war (I guess some are happy to buy up all assets and move to the _post-democratic age_ or whatever). So, why aren't they trying to stop the Greenland nonsense?

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#14

Post by microtonal » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:31 PM UTC

gist wrote: post #4

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

Have been following Trump since the 1970's. This is a negotiating tactic of his and actually it's a somewhat common negotiating tactic that many people follow when in a negotiation for something they want. Behaviorally anything less than the original demand seems more acceptable. Think of if you were diagnosed with a dreaded disease and then found out you had a lesser disease. The lesser disease by contrast seems les…

I fear that there is no other angle to this. He just wants the 'added land to the US' and 'won a Nobel peace prize'-accolades next to his name as one of the few presidents.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#15

Post by microtonal » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:31 PM UTC

Tarsul wrote: post #6

I've been thinking: Trump won't settle for less than Greenland unless it's the Nobel Peace Price. So... why not give it to him but with caveats? E.g. It will be presented to him in an extraordinary pompous celebration (to tickle his ego) but will remain in Norway until the day of the end of Trump's presidency. He will receive it again on that day, and can keep it!, in another majestic ceremony.

That would also be the end of the nobel peace prize, no? If you can 'win' it by blackmailing.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#16

Post by pseudony » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

Tarsul wrote: post #6

I've been thinking: Trump won't settle for less than Greenland unless it's the Nobel Peace Price. So... why not give it to him but with caveats? E.g. It will be presented to him in an extraordinary pompous celebration (to tickle his ego) but will remain in Norway until the day of the end of Trump's presidency. He will receive it again on that day, and can keep it!, in another majestic ceremony.

Because every other agreement we have made with him on tariffs or Ukraine, every other appeasement, has done nothing to sway him from his actual course.

Contrary to popular thinking (and it is a nicer fantasy), he is not an inconsistent, emotionally manipulated short-termist with no attention-span.

He is actually smarter than we thought (or wanted to think) OR someone actually is a bona-fide Trump whisperer.

His main foreign policy aims and beliefs seem remarkably fixed.

All of this to say, no further appeasement. No need to completely undermine the Nobel peace price also for 5 minutes of respite, he will literally be back to this within a fortnight.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#17

Post by netsharc » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

mooglevich wrote: post #10

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

For what it's worth, I don't know a single person that thinks this is a good idea. However, I'm a software developer living in NYC, so the context of my socioeconomic/cultural bubble isn't representative of the average American's. A few folks have already posted good points. This is a classic Trump/asshole negotiation tactic. This distracts from the clamor to release the Epstein files. But what I think is pretty depr…

I think the feeling of helplessness is reasonable.. Maybe they see how much more they have to sacrifice a lot more to fight this tyranny of stupidity. Only when the population has lost a lot more will they get mad enough to say "well we've lost too much" (if you see how protests go big in other oppressive regimes - the famous quote is "civilization is 3 missed meals away from riots").

Maybe it's all the Nazi thuggery of ICE scaring them, that keeping quiet feels much more safer.

Disclaimer: I don't live under the Trump tyranny.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#18

Post by deeg » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

As of right now there is no mention of this on the Fox News web site, so a lot of Americans don't know about it.

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#19

Post by deeg » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:41 PM UTC

Tarsul wrote: post #6

I've been thinking: Trump won't settle for less than Greenland unless it's the Nobel Peace Price. So... why not give it to him but with caveats? E.g. It will be presented to him in an extraordinary pompous celebration (to tickle his ego) but will remain in Norway until the day of the end of Trump's presidency. He will receive it again on that day, and can keep it!, in another majestic ceremony.

It'd be interesting to see what trump would do if the Nobel committee promised to give him a peace prize if he stopped all tariffs and gave up on greenland (or better yet, if he resigned).

Re: Trump's Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw

#20

Post by Manheim » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:46 PM UTC

mooglevich wrote: post #10

Manheim wrote: post #2

As a Norwegian, I am genuinely curious how US citizens are reacting to Trump’s letter To Norway and demands. Setting politics aside for a moment: Is there actual public support in the USA for demanding territory from Denmark? I see polling suggesting that the overwhelming majority of Americans, around 75%, oppose the idea of purchasing or seizing Greenland. It clearly isn't a popular demand among the general public.…

For what it's worth, I don't know a single person that thinks this is a good idea. However, I'm a software developer living in NYC, so the context of my socioeconomic/cultural bubble isn't representative of the average American's. A few folks have already posted good points. This is a classic Trump/asshole negotiation tactic. This distracts from the clamor to release the Epstein files. But what I think is pretty depr…

No need to apologize, quite the opposite. This is exactly the kind of insight I was hoping for. I read the NYT and other U.S. papers and get the editorial perspective, but I still feel, and many here in Scandinavia feel the same, that we can’t fully understand what’s going on at the level of everyday experience in the U.S. That’s why your ‘street‑level analysis’ is valuable and much appreciated.