The Real Real Reason Trump Wants Greenland (And How You Can Have One Too)

Plus my unsolicited advice to the President

Trump is in the news again. Well, that’s like saying a United flight is late again. When is it not the case?

This time, he’s gung ho about getting Greenland. Many people are downright perplexed.

Donny! Dude, you won! You are the President. You have all the power in the world. You are almost 80. Why can’t you build a million golf courses (or bocce ball courses, or coalmines, whatever), launch a few more cryptos, and just be happy? Judging by your latest approval rating, 55% of Americans hate you. Why do you have to piss off all our allies and the whole world too?

Well, I have the answer. And more importantly, I have lessons - the real, hidden lessons that you don’t see in the headlines. So YOU, the reader, the ambitious entrepreneur and the creative artist, can use. So you can get your own Greenland (or green paper, or greenbelt, or green card).

1. The Rushmore Calculation

Let’s talk about Trump. Writing about him politically isn’t interesting to me, since he’s been covered like a $200 steak and dissected like a 7^th grade frog by every news commentator and political writers already.

I am, however, fascinated by him as a person. He’s unlike any previous President we’ve ever seen, so much so in 2016, right after he got elected the first time, I wrote a piece on Foxnews.com (hey don’t hate me. CNN turned me down) on how he used the power of rejection to win.

Most people who hate Trump have accused him of being a chameleon, switching parties (he was once a Democrat), ideologies (he was once pro-choice), and everything on daily basis (just read his TruthSocial).

But people are missing the forest for the trees – when it comes to what’s important to Trump, he’s as consistent as the IKEA meatballs.

Let’s look at his career arc:

• Started off as a real estate developer

• Got involved on multiple TV shows like WWE and Miss Universe, and especially the Apprentice that made him famous

• Wanted to buy the Buffalo Bills and was rejected (I wonder what the Bills would be like under him in an alternative universe. Quick bankruptcy or 3 Super Bowls. You could have told me any outcome and I would believe it)

• Pivoted to running for and winning the Presidency (the best pivot since Robert Downey Jr. going from an addict to Iron Man, I wonder if Trump read my book and that’s what gave him the power)

• Lost, then won a second Presidential term

• Campaigned for and demanded the Nobel Peace Prize

• Was rejected, so pivoted again to wanting Greenland

I know I skipped a lot of his Presidential actions, but if you do the work and add all of them to the list, you will see they all trace back to his one, insatiable desire:

Glory and being remembered by history.

He didn’t just want to be a billionaire, he wanted to be remembered: as a TV star, a NFL owner, a President. When he became a President, he didn’t just want to be A President, he wanted to be THE President.

In fact, wanting Greenland has nothing to do with Greenland. It had everything to do with another land 2,500 miles away, in South Dakota, a place called Mt. Rushmore.

He wants his face on the rock.

This is Trump’s goal

And that’s the utmost ambition for personal glory.

Here is the weird thing about goals: the more ambitious it is, the simpler it is to achieve. Because the path gets narrower, and your decisions become clear. When you want what everyone wants, you drown in options. When you want what almost no one wants, the choices make themselves.

If you watched King Richard, you’ll know that Richard Williams (Will Smith)’s goal is simple – to make his daughters Venus and Serena the greatest tennis players in the world. That ambition made his options became incredibly simple – go get the best coach in the world to train his daughters. Not a good coach, not a great coach, but the best coach in the world. So he executed on that plan, and the rest is history.

For Trump wanting to be on Mt. Rushmore, his options are also simple. He’s not getting there by passing a souped up version of Obamacare, or five more tax cuts, or turn every McDonald into a Topgolf. He needs Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln type of achievements. What’s left to do?

That’s why at 79, he’s not only not slowing down, but going nuts trying seemingly crazy things in the first year of his second term - starting a trade war with the whole world to re-industrialize America, trying to end every war in the world to get a Nobel Prize.

And now, Greenland.

And to his credit, dramatically expanding the America map might be one of the few options left.

You might hate the idea, but look at history: every time when America expanded, people pissed on the sitting President who pushed for it. Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase was called unconstitutional. Alaska was called “Seward’s Folly.” And the Mexican-American War that acquired the American West was called “one of the most unjust wars ever waged.”

But now, these acquisitions are hailed as Manifest Destiny and the best real estate deals in history. Those Presidents are called statesman and national heroes. Jefferson’s face is literally on the Mt. Rushmore.

And that’s precisely why Trump identified Greenland as his best bet to have his face next to Jefferson, and he will forever be remembered in history.

With this lens, all Trump’s actions will seem less shocking and confusing. In fact, they make tons of sense.

Being Remembered

Just a side note: I am neither endorsing nor criticizing his desire or tactics. I also don’t know if the literal Mt. Rushmore is his ultimate goal. It’s just a guess based on analyzing his behavior. But one thing is clear, he wants to be remembered by history in a Mt. Rushmore way.

For that goal, I can empathize with him. I mean, don’t we all want to be remembered in some way. If it’s not in the history books, at least in the mind of our family members? Hey, I am the guy wrote two books, and a Substack. If you don’t read my book and articles, I’ll be disappointed. But if my kids and grandkids don’t read it, I’ll be heart-broken.

In fact, the Pixar movie Coco’s premise is that people don’t really die unless they are forgotten by everyone in the living world. And anthropologist Ernest Becker theorized that our desire to leave a legacy can be traced to our basic fear of death.

Everyone wants to be remembered by someone in some way

Human beings haven’t cracked the physical immorality code yet. But being remembered by millions in the world is the next best thing. Having your face carved on a mountain is a pretty good way to show for it. And getting Greenland might be the best path to get it done.

So what does this have anything to do with you? Well, if you have unquenchable personal ambition, you can learn a lot from Trump.

I know, I know, if you hate Trump, learning anything from him might sound like getting mustache grooming tips from Hitler, or flight lessons from Osama Bin Laden. But here is the sad truth about the world: earthly success and glory are amoral. They aren’t monopolized by good guys. In fact, the people who get them are often times the meanest ones.

The best way to despise someone might be stealing useful tactics from them to better yourself. So let’s give it a shot.

Hate? Who Cares?

Throughout Trump’s career, people have always hated him in every step of the way. If you had to bet, what’s the right Vegas over/under of the existence of Trump voodoo dolls in the world? 5,000? 10,000. I’d take the over either way.

But you know what everyone, especially the people who hate Trump, will never admit this but secretly admire him for? His ability to dust off overwhelming hate and does his thing anyway.

Trump couldn’t care less what you think about him. Because his goals are not your approval and elections. It’s Mt. Rushmore.

I teach people overcoming their fear of rejections for a living. I see this pattern over and over: people are so sensitive to what others think about them, so they try to appease both other people’s expectation and their own desires. They end up making safe choices and end up in vanilla destinations.

There is nothing wrong with that. A life of love, contentment and harmony can be a fulfilling life.

But what if your aim is your personal Mt. Rushmore?

Say you want to build a billion-dollar company, write a bestselling book, or becoming the next President. In fact, a personal Mt. Rushmore doesn’t have to be for your glory either. It could be scientific discovery, solving climate change, you know, the “make the world a better place” thing. I know a friend whose goal is to change the entire North American church culture, so it can bring more glory to God.

But no matter what type of Mt. Rushmore you want to achieve, your path becomes both extremely narrow and extreme in nature. They will most likely not be socially acceptable. You’ll need to make lots of tradeoffs and sacrifices. You’ll might need to start your own version of a trade war and annex your personal Greenland.

For example, you might need to sneak into the Universal Studios uninvited like the teenage Steven Spielberg did to learn filming.

Or sleep on the factory floor like Elon Musk to meet a crazy production deadline.

Or selling his dog for $40 like Sylvester Stallone did to survive, so he could make Rocky.

By taking those narrow, extreme actions, you might be disliked, laughed at, and even voodoo-dolled. But if that’s what you really want, that’s the tradeoff you have to make.

To Rushmore, you need to be voodoo-dolled many times

2. [Billionaire Corner] Trump’s Roadmap to Rushmore

This section is reserved for billionaires and dictators. I called it [Dictator Corner] in my last post on AI. I am changing it to [Billionaire Corner] because I want to widen the readership. After all, all dictators are billionaires, but not all billionaires are dictators. If you aren’t one of them, feel free to skip to #3.

I’m going to give President Trump some personal advice on getting on Mt. Rushmore.

I’ll start by telling this truth: annexing Greenland is not enough.

Say the Marines show up and the Europe pees their pants, and gave Trump Greenland along with 2 Nobel Prizes for Peace, and 1 for Literature for The Art of the Deal. That’s a good start but still not Mt. Rushmore worthy. He needs to acquire more lands.

So where to go next?

I looked at Earth (and beyond), analyzed every land as a potential acquisition target using 3 criteria: size, ease of acquisition, Trump’s… personal taste.

1. Size – pretty simple. The bigger, the better. Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase doubled the US map, and set the standard for Mt. Rushmore. Trump needs to get there too to be safe.

2. Ease of acquisition – they can’t be lands involved with all non-NATO nuclear powers – Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel. UK and France have nukes but they are allies and will do whatever Trump says.

3. Trump’s preference – Trump has a clear type for his population. Why does he want to take over Canada and Greenland, but only bomb Venezuela and Iran with no mentioning of annexation? Why does he never talk taking over Mexico, or the Bahamas? You are smart. You know why.

So that eliminate lots of lands of the world. It leaves the following for Trump to go next:

1. Antarctica – this is the most obvious choice after Greenland. It’s huge, and no one officially owns it. If America takes Antarctica and rename it Souther Dakota, it will close to triple the American size. The Louisiana Purchase will look like buying a 1,500 ft fix-upper by comparison.

   There are a few countries that actually claim sovereignty over Antarctica, but no nuclear powers. So raising tariffs to 85% on these countries will probably do the job.

   There is also no local population to tame. You can bring over polar bears from the Arctics, build a NHL team, host an epic Winter Olympics, and even build a freezing prison, like Guantanamo but colder. The possibilities are endless.

2. Falkland Islands – this is super underrated. Yes, it’s small, only 0.12% of the US. But America has a great opportunity here.

   It’s claimed by both Argentina and UK, who fought a war in 1982 over it. They are pissed off at each other even today. But if the US takes over, they are equally unhappy, but happier than their rival having it. According to game theory, this might be the best outcome for everyone.

   And best yet, the local population is Trump approved. Google “Falkland demographics”. You’ll see.

3. The moon – you laugh, but we got Greenland and Antarctica, so why not? The moon is enormous – with surface area 4 times of the USA. We are the first to plant a flag on it in 1969. According to Discovery Doctrine, this implies that we have sovereignty over the moon already. We just need to make it official.

   You can even carve out a giant American flag on the face of the moon, which will demonstrate American sovereignty and might to the world on a nightly basis.

4. The Earth orbit – the entire atmosphere above earth where satellites orbits around our planet. I don’t know how to calculate the land expansion percentage, since it’s not land. But air acquisition on top of land acquisition is absolutely a Rushmore move.

   Elon already has 9,400 satellites there. They can be the foot soldiers in an orbit takeover.

This will get Rushmore done

There you have it. Greenland+Antarctica+Falkland Islands+the Moon+the Earth Orbit.

Trump has three more years in office to get them done, and the odds are heavily against him. But if he achieve the impossibles, in 20 years, he would have been seen as the greatest President in American history, and absolutely, unequivocally belongs on the Mt. Rushmore.

A Game of Lands Speech

In the end, let me borrow Al Pacino and his “Game of Inches” speech from Any Given Sunday to give Trump a pep talk:

“Mr. President, you will find out legacy is a game of lands. The lands we need are everywhere around us. They are on every continent, every ocean and every planet.

In this country, we fight for that land. In this country, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that land. We claw with our fingernails for that land, because we know when we add up all those lands, that’s gonna make the fucking difference between you on the Mt. Rushmore and on a West Wing Portrait. Between living and dying!

In any fight, it’s the President who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that land. And I know if you are gonna have any life anymore, it’s because you are still willing to fight and die for that land.

Now I can’t make you do it. You got to look at the guy in the mirror. Look into his eyes! Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will get that land . You’re gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for Mt. Rushmore, because he knows, when it comes down to it, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt will do the same!

That’s a Mt. Rushmore President!”

3. The Alignment Audit

OK, back to Earth. Literally.

Here’s the question hiding inside all of this: Is Trump’s quest for Greenland good for America? Or is it good for Trump?

Because those might not be the same thing.

Getting Greenland might put his face on Rushmore. It might also break the transatlantic alliance America spent 80 years building and turn geopolitics into a game of Risk where everyone starts grabbing land because America said it was cool again.

I’m not here to judge Trump’s actions and intentions, but incentive misalignment happens every day, everywhere in this world. Leaders optimize for their own scoreboard while everyone else assumes they’re playing for the team. CEO David Zaslav gutted HBO and tanked Warner Brothers stock while collecting nine-figure paydays. Sports GM Nico Harrison traded away Dallas Mavericks’ franchise player and destroyed its future so he could have absolute power over the team. Your boss might be keeping you on their team because it’s good for their numbers, not your career.

So here’s your homework. Do a personal Alignment Audit:

If you’re being led: Whose game are you actually playing? When your boss, your CEO, your whoever makes decisions, do they win when you win? Or do they win when you stay put, stay quiet, stay useful? If the incentives don’t line up, that’s not cynicism. That’s information.

If you’re leading others: Are your incentives aligned with the people counting on you? When you win, do they win too?

Some dreams lift everyone up. Richard Williams dragged his daughters to tennis courts at 4am to fulfill their tennis dreams. That’s alignment. But some dreams are just ego looking for an outlet. The founder who burns out his team for a vision only he believes in. The parent who pushes their kid toward their own unfulfilled ambition. That’s misalignment.

The test isn’t whether you’re ambitious. It’s whether your Mount Rushmore has room for the people you’re bringing along.

Lastly, if you’re leading no one but yourself: The you from 20 years in the future is watching you. Are they grateful for what you’re building? Or are they confused about what you were chasing?

Here’s the thing: your future self might be thrilled you went all-in on your Greenland. Quit the safe job, wrote the book, built the thing. Sometimes the risk is the point.

But they might also wonder why you optimized for a scoreboard that stopped mattering. The promotion that cost you your health. The job that moves you far away from seeing your aging parents. The legacy flex that impressed strangers but not the people who actually knew you.

Go play for your own Rushmore. Just make sure it’s actually yours, and worth it.