Revenge of the Toddler in ChiefThe best explanation for Trump's push on Greenland, and what it reveals about his staffers.In my last post on Trump’s blinkered approach to Greenland, I delineated all the ways in which the president’s desire for annexation made zero sense. I asked, “why, why is Trump burning so many bridges for such a superfluous, unnecessary, counterproductive action?” I have seen a few possible explanations floated since then. Maybe Trump really is a Russian asset, or maybe plutocratic incentives are behind it all. While neither of these explanations can be ruled out, neither of them explains why this has moved o the top of the queue. No, the evidence is pretty strong that this is happening because Trump is acting like a toddler. Why do I think Greenland is due to Trump’s immature leadership? There are a few data points. Consider this quote that the New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins got from a former NSC staffer about the difficulty with explaining Trump’s foreign policy actions: “With Trump, you have to resist the temptation to intellectualize what he is doing. They’re emotional responses, flying all over the place.” Then, last week the British tabloids served up a spicy story about how U.S. military leadership was trying real hard to prevent Trump from taking precipitous action against Greenland. Apparently, one source told the Daily Mail: ‘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.” Distraction?¹ That’s a classic toddler management technique! Then there was Trump’s ridiculous text message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. This arose after Store texted Trump about arranging a conversation about Greenland. Here is Trump’s message in full:
There are a lot of ways to describe that text message — riddled with errors, misunderstanding the very essence of NATO — but the word that best captures it is “petulant.” CNN’s national security team also has a long story that includes some toddler-like reasons for Trump’s interest in Greenland:
That CNN story, however, also reveals why I will continue to rebuff all requests to revive the Toddler in Chief thread are for naught. Right after Trump won in 2024 I warned that his second-term advisors were less likely to talk about him like he’s a toddler. Even as some advisors try to create a little separation from Trump’s obsession with ownership, they can’t help but reveal their own lack of understanding:
Psst… hey, Trump adviser… you already have an alliance with them!!! It’s called NATO — look it up sometime on the interwebs! There’s also this section from CNN’s story:
Perhaps the most egregious example of Trump’s staff enabling him comes from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who some folks continue to believe despite all evidence to the contrary is an adult in the room. On the Sunday shows, Bessent was asked to explain the national emergency that allowed Trump to impose his tariffs on European countries. His answer was —how to put this — equal parts absurd and enabling:
Unfortunately, the toddler thesis continues to explain a lot of Trump’s behavior as president. The difference between his first term and this term is that there is less coverage of it in the media — because more staff are enabling rather than constraining his immature impulses. That is a very dangerous combination. |