Written by: TechFlow, TechFlow
On April 4, 1949, twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington.
Two of them are the United States and Denmark.
76 years later, the United States threatened to militarily invade Danish territory.
White House spokesman Levitt said, "Military force is always one of the options the president can use." Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen said that if the United States were to do that, NATO would be over, and the security system established since World War II would also be over.
"Everything will stop."
This is what a founding member of NATO said to another founding member of NATO.
The incident originated in Greenland.
Trump said the U.S. "needs" the island, citing national security reasons. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, covering 2.16 million square kilometers with a population of 56,000, 85% of whom oppose joining the U.S.
Trump doesn't seem to care much about voting. Last weekend, the US military went to Venezuela and arrested President Maduro. Hours after the operation ended, the wife of a senior White House advisor posted a picture on social media of Greenland painted in the colors of the American flag, with the caption: SOON.
You should know that Venezuela does not have nuclear weapons. Neither does Denmark.
But Greenland wasn't the only item in Trump's shopping cart.
The Panama Canal is also on the list. Trump said China "controls" the canal and wants to "take it back." In fact, the canal is operated by Panama's own authority, with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa merely operating the ports at both ends for loading and unloading containers.
Hutchison Whampoa later agreed to sell the port to BlackRock. Trump didn't get the canal, but Chinese capital was out of the picture.
Canada is also on the list. Trump said Canada should become the "51st state," offering it free access to his $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system. Not joining? Then he'll have to buy it separately for $60 billion.
After two Canadian prime ministers refused, tariffs were introduced. 100% for pharmaceuticals, 30% for furniture, and 25% for trucks.
If they can't reach an agreement, they'll raise the price.
Trump's view of the world is no different from his view of Manhattan real estate.
Every piece of land has a price. Greenland has rare earth elements, Panama has shipping lanes, and Canada has resources. If negotiations fail, pressure is applied; if pressure fails, threats are used; if threats fail, action is taken. Venezuela has already taken action.
This logic is also used in the crypto community.
In 2024, the Trump family established World Liberty Financial to sell tokens, with the family taking 75% of the profits. Justin Sun invested $30 million, and a few weeks later the SEC dropped its investigation against him. The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion in stablecoins in Binance, and shortly afterward, CZ was granted a pardon.
Invest in exchange for regulatory exemptions, invest in exchange for presidential pardons. Prices are transparent and fair.
The real estate business is viable because there's a set of rules. There are courts to enforce contracts, police to protect property rights, and the government to recognize land deeds.
Without these, land deeds are just worthless pieces of paper.
In the international order, NATO is the set of rules. The United States spent 76 years building it. Now the largest shareholder says, "I want to demolish the house next door."
He probably felt that he set the rules himself and could change them whenever he wanted.
The question is, if real estate developers dismantle the rules, will their land deeds still be valuable?
