OPINION: America Alone
America First has given way to America-the-land-that-doesn't-have-a-friend-in-the-world.
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
I’ve got a question.
What will happen if President Donald Trump orders the United States military to invade Greenland, a possession of Denmark, a NATO ally, and leaders refuse?
I don’t want to keep harping on Trump and his wacky ways. In fact, I had another column written and ready to go. But like an ever-increasing number of Americans, I understand that this country is at a serious crossroads, and I feel I must speak out.
We are moving away from being a world leader and becoming a world destroyer. We, under the leadership of Trump, could be on the verge of starting World War III. Not Russia or China as those of my generation were taught to fear, but the good old US of A. We are becoming the bad guys.
Why Trump has this obsession with Greenland is anyone’s guess. We already have a military base there because the island is somewhat strategic. But in the 1970s we had 17 bases there, sixteen of which we closed after the end of the Cold War.
Yes, Russia is just 2,000 miles away from Greenland over the North Pole, but in case you didn’t know it, Russia is less than 50, yes, 50, miles from Alaska. And as for this business about Russia and China wanting Greenland so badly, neither country, according to Denmark, Greenland’s protector, has either stated their desire to control the frozen island or made any military move in Greenland’s direction.
But that’s Trump. He just makes up stories and spits them out as facts. And his cult followers believe his Jim Jones rhetoric while the president prepares the nuclear Kool-Aid.
Several European nations, all members of NATO, have taken Trump’s threats so seriously that they have sent troops to Greenland on an “exercise.” Meanwhile, according to published reports, the president has ordered his chiefs of staff to prepare invasion plans.
But what if Trump, as commander-in-chief, gives the order to invade and the military refuses? After all, everyone in the armed forces takes an oath not to follow through on unlawful orders. And invading a country simply to take control of its natural resources is a violation of international law.
How does Trump, who already appears mentally unstable, handle such a situation? Does he fire all the military leaders and appoint those who will obey his orders? Does he go off the deep end and push “the button” to start a nuclear war, just to prove he has the power?
The Republican-led congress has shown it loves its power too much to reign Trump in, so who does? In the wake of a world crisis, will the military take over? Will we have a coup as often happens in a banana republic?
Don’t shake your head and laugh. These are all real possibilities. This situation could go very sour in a very short time.
As I have stated before, the world is not going to sit idly by and allow another dictator to rise to power. And that fact has become obvious by NATO nations deploying troops to Greenland.
Over the weekend, Trump, in retaliation, slapped tariffs against those nations, which, in effect, is merely another tax on the American consumer. In response, NATO nations are threatening more tariffs and embargoes against America.
And NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Sunday.
To invade Greenland, a small country of some 70,000 people, would be a move of global significance. It would likely mean a realignment of NATO without us. It could mean that our military bases in NATO countries would be closed and our troops sent home.
Suddenly, we would be alone. America first? We might end up America alone. Russia and China would love to see our allies turn their backs on us. Then we would be vulnerable as never before.
Contrary to what the MAGA cult believes, isolation in today’s world is not an option. We need friends to survive. And you don’t make friends by threatening them and stealing from them.
It has been reported that kids in Greenland are afraid to go to sleep at night because they fear an impending American invasion. How could we sink that low?
Make America great? Trump has inspired American hate, from without and within.
Still, the man has followers who say he is the right hand of God and beam, “Just look what he has done for this country.”
That’s what the Nazis said about Hitler as they stood amid the bombed-out ruins of their once glorious cities.
Is stealing an ice-covered island worth starting World War III?
Apparently MAGA Republicans think so.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”
Now, what does President Donnie know that columnist Donnie doesn't? Maybe he has access to intelligence studies and reports that c. Donnie lacks. Does c. Donnie remember the Biden era almost-take-over of Panama by China? Who saw that and stopped the debacle? P. Donnie.
All of our nation friends that are suddenly less friendly (I'm sure c. Donnie includes communist China and Venezuela in those) were only there as long as the "free foreign aid" flowed like Minnesota welfare checks and our trade deficits stayed lopsided in their favor. But after P. Donnie applied some fairness to the those, they came to the conclusion that they still like our trade money and goods.
On the economy, c. Donnie needs to look at the inflation, debt, and fraud Biden handed over and what it is now, just one year later. Maybe c. Donnie's TDS bifocals need new lenses.
Non‑MAGA Americans and non‑voters need to hear this plainly: Trump’s policies are a disaster for our security, our economy, and our standing in the world, and the hard‑core MAGA bloc is not going to walk away from him on its own.
Thank you, Donnie, for this and your earlier columns that keep sounding the alarm about what this means for our families, our communities, our Republic, and our democracy. Trump has shredded alliances, threatened wars of choice, encouraged political violence, and treated the law as something that applies only to others. Roughly one in five Americans now identify as hard‑core MAGA—deeply loyal to Trump, resistant to facts, and unlikely to change course in the near term.
That reality means the rest of us—non‑MAGA Republicans, Democrats, independents, and non‑voters—must become something we’ve never really had before: an anti‑MAGA coalition. Think of it as a broad front where people who disagree on taxes or regulation agree on one thing: no more authoritarianism, no more rule‑by‑threat. In practice, that means:
• Voting in every election, up and down the ballot, for candidates who will defend the rule of law and our alliances.
• Pushing back on mis‑ and disinformation in conversations, online and off, so neighbors are not left alone with lies.
• Rallying, speaking out locally, and donating to organizations that are challenging unlawful policies and power grabs in the courts.
• Using boycotts and consumer pressure, when appropriate, against corporations and media outlets that bankroll or normalize MAGA extremism.
We do not have to agree on everything to agree on this: a small, radical minority should not decide whether our children face war abroad and political violence at home. The enemy of our enemy is, for now, our ally—and if we stand together, that one‑in‑five won’t rule the other four.