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With friends like that, who needs enemies? Thus Denmark finds out how dispensable it is regarding the geopolitical ambitions of the United States, its supposed “strongest ally.”

President-elect Donald Trump is like a cat among pigeons. Neighboring countries, allies and NATO members are all in a flap over his recent remarks about the United States forcibly annexing their territories.

The former real estate tycoon who takes office in the White House for the second time on January 20 is setting out his presidential agenda like a property acquisition spree. He wants to absorb Canada as the 51st state, take back control of the Panama Canal, rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and annex Greenland, which is part of Denmark.

It is easy to dismiss the incoming Republican president’s talk as bravado and outsized ego. He has a propensity for hyperbole especially when promoting his abilities. Trump has talked about bringing peace to Ukraine “within 24 hours”. He has also previously referred to himself as a “business genius”. During his first administration, he talked up brokering “the deal of the century” between Arabs and Israelis only for that initiative to end up in the disaster of genocide in Gaza and aggression towards Lebanon.

So, Trump’s rhetoric about acquiring new territories for the United States is probably best not taken too literally. It is whimsical and highly speculative. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called it “cosmic stupidity” whose real intention is to serve as a distraction.

Distraction from what? Geopolitical analyst Gilbert Doctorow reckons Trump and his advisors are deliberately stirring up wild talk about annexation to divert international attention from the debacle in Ukraine. The U.S.-led NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is an unmitigated disaster for Washington and its allies. The Kiev regime is facing a military collapse as Russian forces make rapid advances to finish this three-year war.

Trump knows that the U.S. has to extricate itself from the debacle by agreeing to Russia’s terms. Hence the seeming wild-eyed talk by Trump of taking over Canada and snatching Greenland from Denmark. It may not happen but the desire for new properties has certainly grabbed the world’s headlines.

Nevertheless, there is a sneaking suspicion that Trump may be serious about expropriating Greenland. At his press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, this week when he presented his Monroe 2.0 doctrine, he mentioned that the U.S. has had its eyes on Greenland for several years. In other words, it is not merely Trump’s personal initiative.

He called the Arctic island – the world’s largest non-continental island – a vital U.S. national security interest. In particular, Trump referred to Russian and Chinese interests growing in the Arctic region and that the U.S. should muscle in. Climate change is creating new waterways and access to abundant natural resources in the Arctic. Russia as the largest national presence in the region has of course legitimate and lucrative claims.

On the same day that Trump was laying out his territorial wish-list, his son Donald Jr flew to Greenland in a private capacity for a publicity stunt. The younger Trump was not greeted by any officials in Nuuk, the capital, but it was obvious that the “welcoming party” of Greenlanders was a set-up.

Meanwhile, back at the freewheeling press conference in Florida, Trump said: “People don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to Greenland, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security.”

The soon-to-be 47th president did not rule out the use of military force to seize the territory.

Danish and European politicians reacted skittishly like pigeons seeing a cat stalking their coop. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen affected an air of defiance, saying, “Greenland is not for sale”. Germany and France limply warned that European sovereignty was inviolable and that Trump could not alter borders unilaterally. There was even talk about the EU invoking a common defense pact to protect Danish territory. And what about NATO’s mutual defense pact? Will NATO members defend Denmark from the de facto NATO leader, the U.S.?

Trump may be unhinged and arrogant. But one thing that is valuable about his style – inadvertently at least – is that he is exposing the rank hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of the United States and its NATO allies.

For three years, the U.S. and NATO have unleashed a bloodbath in Ukraine that risks turning into a nuclear World War Three – all on the supposed sacred altar of defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders from alleged Russian aggression.

Then along comes Trump and he is threatening supposed allies with annexing their territories.

The absurdity of it exposes the fraudulence of Western claims about upholding international law and respect for borders. What makes it all the more absurd is the new American president is brazenly advertising his aggression and contempt for “allies” for whom the U.S. claims to be a protector.

In a recent series of articles, Ron Ridenour has scorned Denmark for its abject servility to the U.S. Ridenour points out that only last year, Danish premier Frederiksen signed a “defense cooperation agreement” with the U.S., declaring the latter to be Denmark’s strongest ally.

Denmark has become one of the most pro-U.S., and hawkish members of NATO. It was among the first to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

How ridiculous that NATO members are now more threatened by the United States than they have been claiming about Russia.

Trump’s trampling on Denmark’s sovereignty – and by extension, the European Union’s – is a brutal demonstration. Act like a doormat, then be treated like a doormat.