Europe Aims 'Trade Bazooka' at US to Defend Greenland
Trump's Instability Doctrine. EU prepares for economic warfare. DoD readies 1,500 troops for intervention in Minnesota. And News That Doesn't Suck.
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Donald Trump proudly claims to have revived and updated the Monroe Doctrine — his so-called “Donroe Doctrine” of hemispheric dominance. But his actual governing philosophy is something else entirely. Call it the Instability Doctrine: governing through manufactured crisis, where chaos itself becomes an instrument of control.
It’s never been more apparent. This week we see it in both his foreign policy and his assault on federalism through ICE. On the former: The administration’s messaging on Greenland and Europe oscillates between bluster and incoherence, producing perpetual uncertainty that keeps allies, adversaries, institutions, and citizens off-balance. The confusion isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. Back home, Stephen Miller declares Minnesota’s state and local authorities must “stand down and surrender” to ICE, dismissing constitutional limits as if federalism were merely a suggestion. (This from the ideologues who howled about states’ rights throughout the Obama years.)
The Instability Doctrine has a method. Crisis creates confusion: the constant emergency makes it impossible to focus on any single transgression. Reality becomes negotiable: when facts and norms shift constantly, there’s no firm ground to argue from. Exhaustion becomes strategy: tracking unrelenting chaos becomes unsustainable, so people give up. Normalcy becomes the negotiation: desperation for stability makes what was unthinkable yesterday acceptable today.
This isn’t just random chaos or incompetence. It’s instability as governing strategy.
The news today makes that method visible.
Here Are Your Headlines
Tenth Circle of Hell: The Trump administration has reportedly readied 1,500 active-duty troops in Alaska for a possible deployment in Minnesota if Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, which he has repeatedly threatened to do. Meanwhile, Stephen Miller claimed on Sunday that “local and state police” in Minnesota “have been ordered to stand down and surrender” to federal officers. (Apparently he believes he can rewrite federalism by tweet.) The Minneapolis Police Department said this was “false.” The 10th Amendment forbids the federal government from commandeering or directing local police forces. (And the Insurrection Act empowers federal troops to assist local law enforcement, not to overrule or attack them.) Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the preparation of troops a “shocking step” and said on Sunday that local officials are “doing everything possible to keep the peace, notwithstanding this occupying force that has quite literally invaded our city.”
En Garde: Gov. Tim Walz has mobilized Minnesota’s National Guard “to help support public safety, including protection of life, preservation of property and supporting the rights of all who assemble peacefully,” according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Guard members haven’t actually been deployed, but if they are they will wear yellow vests “to help distinguish them from other agencies in similar uniforms.” You know what agencies the Guard is referring to.
This Is Illegal, Guys: A Minneapolis federal judge on Friday issued a sweeping and detailed condemnation of DHS’s crackdown in Minnesota. She blocked DHS agents from retaliating against people “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,” from using pepper spray and similar measures in response to protected speech, and from stopping or detaining people in vehicles who aren’t “forcibly obstructing or interfering with agents.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the ruling is “telling us to do what we’ve already been doing,” yet the DOJ is appealing the ruling. A law professor at Georgetown University called the ruling “extraordinary,” and noted the judge found widespread evidence of conduct “alarming [and] dangerous enough” to warrant an injunction.
Dark Pattern: The judge ruled that immigration agents “have made, and will continue to make, a common practice of conduct that chills observers’ and protestors’ First Amendment rights.” Her ruling noted dozens of verified incidents, many of them horrifying. In one case, agents knelt on the back of a pregnant woman. In another, they detained a woman who was observing them and cut off her bra and her wedding ring. In another, an elderly couple who were following an ICE vehicle were surrounded by multiple unmarked vehicles; agents pointed semiautomatic weapons at them and threatened them, reportedly telling them, “What you’re doing is illegal. This is like Germany, 1938.” In a letter to the judge, the plaintiffs wrote that “Minnesotans who are peacefully exercising their core constitutional rights to speak and gather continue to be met with unconstitutional and terrifying violence…. Things appear to be getting worse, not better.” Importantly, this case was filed before the death of Renee Good.
Cold-Hearted: ICE agents were filmed this weekend dragging a grandfather — reportedly a US citizen — out of his home into frigid temperatures, despite him wearing little more than underwear and a blanket. The man’s sister-in-law said agents “broke down the door” of his home without a warrant, “put a gun to his daughter-in-law’s head,” and “drove him around for nearly an hour” before realizing that they had no reason to detain him.
Here First: Native American tribes have warned that Indigenous people are being stopped, harassed, and even detained by immigration agents in Minneapolis and around the country.
Reject the Evidence: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday claimed federal agents haven’t used pepper spray against crowds. When shown footage of that exact thing happening, she pivoted to blaming protestors for being violent. Noem also claimed 70% of people in DHS custody have “committed or have charges against them on violent crimes [sic].” When the interviewer pointed out that DHS itself puts the figure at 47%, Noem insisted that was wrong.
Ally v Ally: Trump on Monday refused to rule out using force to take Greenland. European officials, meeting today to discuss the bloc’s response, resolved to avoid escalation if at all possible — while standing firm behind Greenland and Denmark in the face of unprecedented US aggression. France’s finance minister said that “blackmail between allies of 250 years … is obviously unacceptable.” Germany’s counterpart warned “the limit has been reached.” European officials are holding high-level meetings this week, where they will discuss potential countermeasures in preparation for Trump’s visit to the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Here’s where things stand.
Fragile Ego: In a now-public message to Norway’s prime minister on Sunday night, Trump said, “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize … I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.” As the prime minister noted in his response, the Nobel is awarded by an independent committee.
Poor Reasoning: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Monday the idea Trump is pursuing Greenland as a result of the Nobel snub is a “canard.” He insisted it’s a “strategic decision” that will “avoid a hot war,” echoing Trump’s repeated claims that US ownership of Greenland is necessary to defend the territory (and the Arctic as a whole) against Russia and China. He also chided Europe for coming to Denmark’s defense. But as we’ve noted, the US already has a deal with Denmark that allows it to establish military bases on the island. And the Danish leader of the Joint Arctic Command recently noted that in his two-and-a-half years as commander in Greenland, he has never seen Chinese or Russian combat vessels near the island. In the words of an Obama-era State Department official, Trump’s “arguments about Greenland are self-evidently bullshit from top to bottom.”
Bazooka the Bully: France’s Emmanual Macron called on the EU to activate a never-before-used “Anti-Coercion Instrument” (ACI) against the US. French officials reportedly raised the prospect in EU meetings on Sunday. The ACI, also nicknamed the “trade bazooka,” would let Europe shut US companies and investors out of the EU’s massive market. In other words, it could be used to restrict or block them from selling goods and services (including tech services) to 440 million European consumers, exclude them from lucrative public contracts, and more. It’s the EU’s economic nuclear option. EU nations are wary of actually using it, and it could take several months to fully implement. But as one EU official noted, Trump’s threats are “textbook coercion.”
The T-Word: Trump on Saturday announced 10% tariffs on eight European nations for opposing US control of Greenland. He warned the tariffs would rise to 25% on June 1 unless they accept a deal for the “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the US. Several Republican lawmakers are condemning Trump’s threats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called them a “profound mistake” and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) dismissed them as “beyond stupid.” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said he would consider impeaching Trump if the US invaded Greenland. Treasury Secretary Bessent, meanwhile, defended the tariffs. When asked what national emergency justified their use, he claimed “the national emergency is avoiding a national emergency.” Right. A reminder that experts have warned tariffs on EU products would raise prices in the US.
Trade War, Part Two: Recall the US and EU were on the brink of an all-out trade war last year. But they struck a deal in August that paused $108 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Turns out that deal hasn’t been fully ratified. Now EU officials are putting the deal “on hold” in the face of Trump’s threats to Greenland. The deal is paused until February 6, so without further action, these tariffs would automatically be applied the following day. They would affect all manner of US goods, including cars, poultry, soybeans, steel, aircraft, bourbon, and more. Combined, these two forms of economic retaliation would be devastating for the US economy and could risk triggering a recession.
Delay, Deny, Defend: It’s been a month since the DOJ’s legal deadline to release all Jeffrey Epstein files — yet the vast majority of the millions of files remain hidden. On Friday, the DOJ asked a federal judge to deny a bipartisan request to appoint an independent “special master” to oversee the release of these files. The agency argued that Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have no legal standing to make the request and insisted it’s making “substantial progress.” Khanna described the “DOJ’s refusal to follow the law” as “an obstruction of justice.” Massie claimed the agency “is making illegal redactions and withholding key documents that would implicate associates of Epstein.” Epstein abuse survivors warned in a letter to the DOJ of a “troubling pattern of selective redactions” that hide names of alleged abusers while exposing survivors identities.
Keep reading for information on… What Virginia’s first-ever female governor did on her first day in office. Who’s been invited to Trump’s new Gaza “Board of Peace.” The life of iconic fashion designer Valentino Garavani, who passed away today. And how a humble bacteria could have the secret to better sunscreen.
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