Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at an alleged U.S. covert influence campaign in Greenland, U.S. and Israeli plans for postwar Gaza, and China rejecting trilateral nuclear talks with the United States and Russia.
‘Infiltrate Greenlandic Society’
At least three people allegedly connected to U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House have carried out covert influence operations in Greenland, Danish public broadcaster DR reported on Wednesday. According to interviews that the outlet conducted with unnamed Danish government and security sources, individuals with ties to Washington appear to be attempting to “infiltrate Greenlandic society” to weaken its relationship with Denmark and aid Trump’s territorial ambitions in the region.
According to the report, one U.S. national allegedly compiled a list of Greenlanders critical of the United States and another list of people who support Trump and his desire to take over the island, with the goal of eventually recruiting the latter group to establish a secessionist movement. He also asked locals to identify cases of alleged mistreatment or discrimination by Danes against Greenlanders that could be used to cast Denmark in a negative light in the U.S. media. The other two U.S. nationals allegedly tried to foster contacts with local politicians and businesspeople to support Washington’s interests. DR was unable to confirm whether the Americans were working of their volition or under the orders of someone else.
Trump has long sought U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of NATO ally Denmark. The “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump posted on Truth Social last December upon announcing his nominee for ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Howery. Howery has yet to be confirmed.
Trump first floated purchasing the strategically located, mineral-rich Arctic island during his first presidential term in 2019 but was rebuffed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. That hasn’t stopped Trump from pushing for eventual control of Greenland, with the U.S. president saying in March that “one way or the other, we’re going to get it.” Notably, Trump has not ruled out using military force or economic coercion to achieve his aims, portraying his territorial objectives as vital for U.S. national security.
In response to DR’s report, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country, chargé d’affaires Mark Stroh. This is the second time that Copenhagen has called in a top U.S. official in recent months over concerns of American meddling in Greenland. In May, Denmark summoned the U.S. Embassy’s then-acting head, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, over reports that U.S. intelligence agencies were instructed to support Greenland’s independence movement and look into the island’s mineral wealth.
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen said. “It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the kingdom in the time ahead.” Rasmussen called these attempts “unacceptable.”
Frederiksen told reporters on Wednesday that “we are looking at this very seriously.” And the Danish Security and Intelligence Service said that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds.” The White House has not commented on DR’s report yet.
Denmark and Greenland maintain that the Arctic island is not for sale, and they have previously condemned reports of U.S. intelligence-gathering there.
Today’s Most Read
- America’s Relationship With Israel Is a Moral Hazard by Will Walldorf
- Why the Global South Won’t Give Up on China by Galip Dalay and Dino Patti Djalal
- If Americans Are Lawyers and the Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win? by Ravi Agrawal
What We’re Following
Postwar Gaza. Trump chaired a policy meeting at the White House on Wednesday that reportedly included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump’s former senior advisor Jared Kushner to discuss a “comprehensive plan” for postwar Gaza.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff announced the dialogue on Tuesday. “We think we’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year,” Witkoff told Fox News.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing pressure from Israeli citizens and foreign leaders to accept a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas. Yet many remain skeptical that a cease-fire is likely to happen anytime soon, particularly as Netanyahu remains committed to launching an expanded military offensive in Gaza City. “The evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable,” Israeli spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X on Wednesday.
Aid groups warn that such an operation will only worsen the region’s humanitarian crisis. Last Friday, the world’s leading hunger monitor declared that famine is prevalent in Gaza City, but on Wednesday, Israel demanded that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification immediately retract the damning report. Wednesday’s U.S.-hosted meeting also discussed how to increase aid flows into Gaza.
Unnecessary nuclear talks? China rejected a U.S. proposal for trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations with Russia, calling such a request “neither reasonable nor realistic.” Trump suggested such talks ahead of his meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the White House on Monday, saying Beijing is expected to catch up to Washington’s nuclear capabilities within the next five years.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said such dialogue is unnecessary, as Beijing practices a no-first-use nuclear policy and does not seek to engage in an arms race with any nation. “The nuclear forces of China and the United States are not at the same level at all, and the strategic security environment and nuclear policies of the two countries are totally different,” Guo said.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China was believed to have 500 nuclear warheads in 2024, compared to the United States’ 3,708 and Russia’s 4,380. Russia and the United States possess nearly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.
50 percent tariffs. Steep U.S. tariffs on India went into effect on Wednesday, threatening to impact some $48.2 billion worth of New Delhi’s exports. The 50 percent duty—25 percent to counter Washington’s trade deficit and 25 percent to punish New Delhi for continuing to purchase Russian oil—is expected to trigger job losses and slow economic growth in India.
Experts predict that the tariffs could further rupture U.S.-India relations and stall diplomatic progress to alleviate Trump’s trade war; the United States is India’s top trading partner overall. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remains optimistic that progress will eventually be made. “I think at the end of the day, we will come together,” Bessent said on Wednesday.
New Delhi is touting a different strategy, though. India’s Finance Ministry released a report on Wednesday detailing how the country aims to diversify its trade portfolio—including via ongoing trade talks with the European Union and New Zealand—to build resilience against the United States’ maneuvers. However, the report states, “these initiatives will take time to show results and may not fully address the shortfall in exports to the United States that may arise if the current tariff rates on India persist.”
Odds and Ends
For 364 days of the year, most overripe tomatoes end up tossed in compost bins, dumped in landfills, or occasionally thrown at mediocre actors. But once a year, the Spanish town of Buñol puts these squishy tomatoes to better use. On Wednesday, around 20,000 people spent an hour flinging 120 tons of rotting fruit at one another in arguably one of the world’s messiest food fights. This year, the festival’s organizers hoped that the event, known as Tomatina, would serve as “Tomaterapia” or “Tomato Therapy” for the region, which suffered devastating flooding last October.
The post Denmark Looks Into Report That U.S. Is Trying to ‘Infiltrate Greenlandic Society’ appeared first on Foreign Policy.
