ALL EYES ON ULTIMA THULE
AFTER PASSWORD FIASCO AND EU VEEP SPEECH,GABBARD ORDERS SPYING ON GREENLAND
UPDATED, 6:44 PM May 8, 2025
On Sunday, when asked by NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker whether he would use military force to conquer Greenland, President Donald Trump said, "It could happen, something could happen."
Tuesday in Strasbourg, European Union Vice President and High Commissioner Kaja Kallas of Estonia responded to Trump in a speech in front of the EU Parliament. Kallas told the members that “on the 11th of March, the people of Greenland cast their votes. In April, a new government was confirmed by Greenland’s parliament . . . This is exactly how it should be. Government for the people, decided by the people. Any decisions over Greenland’s future should be decided in the same way: by the people of Greenland.” Kallas added that “the only way to maintain the rules-based world order is the full respect of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and sanctity of borders.”
Late on Tuesday, Wired broke a story that U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had used the same cracked password for different online accounts for years. Three hours later the Wall Street Journal reported an exclusive—that last week, Gabbard had issued a “collection emphasis message” to intelligence agency heads to identify people in Greenland and Denmark who support U.S. aims in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Gabbard appeared to not even deny that the classified collection emphasis order was issued, accusing the Journal of “aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information. They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy.”
Denmark responded to Gabbard’s collection emphasis order on Wednesday, with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stating that he would summon the U.S. Ambassador to explain the report. Currently, the U.S. is represented by Chargé d’affaires Jennifer Hall Godfrey.
OUR WOMAN IN NUUK
The largest city in Greenland is Nuuk, with less than 20,000 people. Nuuk would be the main target by the collection emphasis message. The U.S. reestablished a consulate there in 2020 where the U.S. is represented by Consul Monica Bland.
Anonymity for of intelligence collection will be difficult as the consulate’s Instagram account necessarily features Consul Bland. Bland has had tough assignments before, including serving in key roles at the U.S. Embassy in Belarus and as the Political-Military Officer in the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
When asked Thursday about Danish Foreign Minister Rasmussen’s statement that he was going to summon the U.S. Ambassador to discuss the reports that U.S. intelligence agencies had been ordered to collect information on Greenland and Denmark, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said “we do not comment on intelligence matters.”