Stand with Greenland, stand against Trump’s expansionist US

Trump’s repeated threats to annex Greenland are a brazen attack on an ally, collapsing 80 years of post-war alliances. And Trump’s US has pledged to put trade tariffs on countries that oppose the plan, including the UK.

We stand with the people of Greenland and against any US takeover. Under pressure, Trump has said he will not use the military to invade – but he is still launching a trade war to try to force a colonial-style sale.

For many European leaders, this week has been a breaking point. Yet far from being a break within Trumpism, this is a continuation of Trump’s escalating abuse of raw US power. It is in keeping with his ongoing support for Israel’s genocide, his recent kidnapping of the president of Venezuela, the bombing of Iran and Trump’s threats against a wide range of other countries, including supposed allies.

It is of a piece with the Trump administration’s stated worldview: that all that matters internationally is military and economic power. 

After long disregarding international law in practice, the US now repudiates it openly. The president regularly talks about his expansionist intentions, with his ambition for the US to become a ‘Greater America’ encompassing Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Panama and more. Trump has already claimed direct control of Venezuela, and seeks control of Gaza via the so-called ‘Board of Peace’.

While Keir Starmer buries his head in the sand, other world leaders are signalling a shift, with Canada’s Mark Carney speaking of a “rupture in the world order” and the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen saying Europe needs to “push for independence” from the US. This long-overdue rhetoric must become action.

To effectively stand up to Trump, Starmer needs to end his policy of fear and flattery. The government must join new anti-Trump alliances across Europe, Canada and the Global South. The UK must finally end its long-term dependency on the US and use its status as the world’s sixth-largest economy to rebuild and re-focus multilateral institutions on promoting equality and peace, ending its hypocritical approach to international law.

As a campaign, we will fight to move Britain away from its position as Trump’s loyal lapdog and towards an independent foreign policy, supporting coordinated opposition to Trumpism.

Only resistance, not appeasement, can stop Trump’s US expansionism.