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Robert Klose lives and writes in Orono. His latest book is “Trigger Warning.”
It is a singular irony that the Monroe Doctrine is being leveraged by the man I view as the most fantastically ignorant president in U.S. history to satisfy his “psychological need” to be a sort of emperor of the Western Hemisphere. There is no indication that Donald Trump has ever read the Constitution, nor, apparently, does he read much of anything at all, preferring to inform himself via whimsy, rumor, and hearsay, so why should he know anything about the Monroe Doctrine? His Greenland fetish, for example, is an astounding example of vacuity, as evidenced by his admitting that he doesn’t even know the name of the leader of the territory he wants to annex.
Trump is treating the Monroe Doctrine as if it were a law he needs to uphold. It’s not. It’s a policy position, or, less ceremoniously, an attitude, proclaimed by President James Monroe in 1823 to ward off European influence in the Western Hemisphere as Latin American countries began to declare independence from Spain and Portugal. In other words, it was designed to give these nascent republics breathing space to develop their own futures, free of coercion by colonialist powers on the other side of the ocean.
I have little faith that Trump understands this background, which means I have even less faith that he is familiar with another dimension of the Monroe Doctrine: as a corollary to the warning about European influence on this side of the Atlantic, the United States in Monroe’s time vowed not to meddle in European affairs. So there was a sort of balance in the assertions of the doctrine — leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone. It sounds pretty fair, especially when one considers the unhappy experiences the young United States had had with England.
This nugget about not messing with Europe is precisely what Trump doesn’t comprehend. And why would he? He has surrounded himself with people whose job it is seemingly to intone “How Great Thou Art” and not supply the type of loyal check and critical analysis that help a president think clearly about important subjects before making decisions, especially in times of crisis.
Thus, Trump is woefully off course when he seeks to apply the Monroe Doctrine to Greenland, and woefully ignorant of the doctrine’s consideration that the U.S. should not tinker with European affairs. And Greenland, which is administered by Denmark, is a European affair.
I am not surprised when the names “Trump” and “Monroe” are uttered in the same breath, because there is indeed a comparison to be drawn between the two men: James Monroe was wounded in the Revolutionary War; Trump had five draft deferments during Vietnam. Monroe served in state and federal government before he became president; Trump is a convicted felon. Monroe spoke fluent French and had a reading knowledge of Greek and Latin; Trump speaks only expletive-ridden Trumpese. It’s baffling that Trump would reference a president who, in every way, is his superior.
I feel that even I have a leg up on Trump regarding this issue, because, unlike the president, I have actually been to Greenland. I learned many things during my time there: about 80% of the country is covered with ice; the population is very small (some 57,000 souls); the people speak their native Greenlandic (an Inuit language) and Danish (because of historical and cultural ties). English is also widely spoken. There is wide admiration of American culture, but, to a man and woman, I did not meet a single individual who wanted their country to be part of the United States. The prevailing sentiment was that they wanted to be left alone.
Yes, let’s invoke the Monroe Doctrine in all of its dimensions: Greenland is an autonomous territory of European Denmark. Let’s leave it alone.
