Adam Kinzinger—former Republican congressman turned Trump critic—isn’t having any of it.
“GOP: are you embarrassed yet?! Are you kidding me???” Kinzinger fumed on X. Kinzinger, who has built his post-congressional career on being one of the few Republicans willing to say the quiet part out loud, has long positioned himself as the conscience the GOP seems to have misplaced somewhere around 2016. His outburst reflects the exasperation of watching his former party continue to pretend that Trump’s increasingly erratic imperial ambitions are just another Tuesday in American politics.
The directive came from Trump-era Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard allegedly instructed agencies like the CIA, NSA, and DIA to focus on Greenland’s independence movements and figure out who, if anyone, might be sympathetic to America’s interests. The idea? To identify potential allies who could help Trump fulfill his bizarre fantasy of making Greenland the 51st state—or at least a glorified American outpost.
The intelligence-gathering effort, according to reports, involved everything from satellite surveillance to intercepting communications to potentially deploying agents on the ground. Yes, we’re talking about full-on spycraft aimed at an island that has fewer people than Wichita, Kansas. All this to satisfy Trump’s fixation on acquiring Greenland for its “strategic importance” (read: polar waterways and rare minerals). Trump reportedly wouldn’t rule out military force to make it happen. That’s right—military force. Against a NATO ally. For Greenland. You can’t make this stuff up.
Danish officials have repeatedly emphasized that Greenland is not for sale—a message they’ve had to deliver with increasing bluntness ever since Trump floated the idea of buying the island back in 2019. At the time, Denmark’s prime minister called the idea “absurd.” Fast forward to now, and the absurdity has escalated into an outright diplomatic headache. Meanwhile, Gabbard, true to Trumpworld form, has gone on the offensive. She accused The Wall Street Journal—the outlet that broke the story—of aiding “deep-state actors” by leaking classified information. Her defense? That exposing such intelligence efforts undermines U.S. security and democracy. Because apparently, democracy now involves secretly plotting to annex foreign territories.
GOP has become under Trump: a party so devoid of principles that it’s veering dangerously close to parody. And who can argue with him? The fact that this Greenland fiasco even made it to the point of intelligence directives is a testament to how far the GOP has fallen. Where are the grown-ups in the room? Oh, that’s right—they’ve either been ousted, silenced, or turned into yes-men. Kinzinger’s exasperation is entirely justified.
Published: May 7, 2025 02:43 pm