Joint Chiefs reportedly trying to redirect Commander-in-Chief toward more conventional military operations.
President Donald Trump has ordered the Joint Special Operations Command to prepare a Greenland invasion plan, according to a report in The UK Daily Mail on Sunday, prompting senior military officials to attempt redirecting the Commander-in-Chief toward what they consider less problematic military options—including a strike on Iran.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are resisting the directive on grounds that invading a NATO ally’s territory would be illegal and unsupported by Congress, sources told the outlet. In response, officials have proposed alternative operations they hope will satisfy the president’s appetite for military action.
“They have tried to distract Trump by talking about less controversial measures, such as intercepting Russian ‘ghost’ ships—a clandestine network of hundreds of vessels operated by Moscow to evade Western sanctions—or launching a strike on Iran,” one source said.
Generals Compare Situation To Childcare
A diplomatic source offered a blunter assessment of the dynamic between the president and his military leadership: “The generals think Trump’s Greenland plan is crazy and illegal. So they are trying to deflect him with other major military operations. They say it’s like dealing with a five-year-old.”
Policy hawks around the president, led by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have been emboldened by the successful January 3 operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and are pushing for swift action on Greenland before Russia or China can establish influence there, the report states.
Diplomatic cables obtained by the outlet describe a “worst-case scenario” in which U.S. military action against Greenland leads to “the destruction of NATO from the inside.” The analysis suggests this may be intentional: “Some European officials suspect this is the real aim of the hardline MAGA faction around Trump. Since Congress would not allow Trump to exit NATO, occupying Greenland could force the Europeans to abandon NATO.”
Administration Does Not Rule Out Force
The White House has not denied military planning is underway. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated this week that “utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.” Miller told CNN that “nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland,” adding: “We live in a world governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”
At a congressional hearing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to confirm or deny the existence of invasion plans, stating only that “the Pentagon has plans for any number of contingencies.”
Representative Adam Smith responded: “I don’t think the American people voted for President Trump because they were hoping we would invade Greenland.”
Developing.
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