No more NATO? As America eyes Greenland, the alliance appears increasingly fossilized
NATO, which was formed to suppress Soviet expansion and militarism in Europe post-World War II, seems to be falling apart at the seams, thanks to one man: President Trump
Opinion-editorial by Summer Lane | January 19, 2026
What would the world look like without NATO?
It’s a safe bet that many Americans, while they may know what NATO is, are likely less sure about the specifics of what the alliance actually does in the modern age.
Established in the wake of World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a response to Soviet Union expansionism. On the heels of tens of millions of European deaths in the world war, there was certainly motivation to establish a coalition to prevent further catastrophic global military events.
NATO did not create a singular government entity. Rather, it created a coalition of countries that could, in theory, respond to aggression in Europe and deal with such threats in a quick and decisive way, especially in the face of aggressive Communist expansion.
With the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, many wondered if NATO’s days were numbered. The threat, after all, had been largely mitigated following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, whilst President Ronald Reagan was in office in the United States.
“NATO endured because while the Soviet Union was no more, the Alliance’s two other original if unspoken mandates still held: to deter the rise of militant nationalism and to provide the foundation of collective security that would encourage democratisation and political integration in Europe,” NATO’s website claims.
Fair enough. But President Donald Trump was perhaps the first president to point out that the United States, for years, was unfairly burdened financially by paying out enormous sums of money to NATO, whilst other alliance countries failed to pay their fair share.
“Of the 28 countries at the time, only eight countries were paid up,” President Trump said in 2024, referring to his actions concerning NATO during his first term. “We were paying the difference. And I went to them, and I said, if you don’t pay, we’re not going to protect you…The next day, billions of dollars poured into NATO.”
NATO, for better or for worse, has relied heavily on the United States to fund and justify its own existence in the face of an increasingly hostile world where both Russia and China appear to be the primary threats.
A world without NATO?
The president’s pursuit of Greenland suggests that NATO exists in name only. It seems to additionally suggest that NATO has no real power or pull at all, and in fact, exists merely to accumulate funding from around the world and send it to countries like Ukraine in its never-ending conflict with Russia.
“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!” President Donald Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store this week in a scathing message eviscerating America’s one-way relationship with the alliance.
This comes amid NATO countries’ dubious decision to deploy small contingencies of troops to Greenland in a show of solidarity against the United States, as if daring the U.S. military to take action against them.
Such behavior demonstrates a shocking measure of disrespect for the country that has, essentially, kept NATO itself functioning and afloat for decades.
“This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” President Trump warned.
The move from NATO countries, perhaps, was a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable.
“NATO is done once the United States takes Greenland, which is owned by [a] fellow NATO member,” observed independent journalist Tucker Carlson.
He continued, “What will be the rationale for keeping NATO? The whole illusion has shattered in the past four days. None of this is real, and now everyone admits it’s not real, so it’s time to start thinking about the next step.”
On this, Carlson is correct. NATO is indeed an illusion. It exists merely because the United States allows it to – because we have funded it, protected it, and backed it up. The world does not bow to the authority of NATO. Rather, the world has been bowing to the authority of the United States, and now, under President Trump, this has become more obvious than ever.
President Trump has been clear that he believes China or Russia will seize Greenland if the United States does not. What would NATO do about that? Nothing. Only the United States would have the strength to respond to such an incursion, and President Trump knows it.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen,” the president told reporters in early January.
So, what would the world look like without NATO?
Exactly as it does now: An increasingly imperialist America moving to squelch Chinese and Russian power in the Western Hemisphere, for the sake of our own survival amid a rapidly evolving global landscape.
NATO cannot last in a shifting world like this. As the Monroe Doctrine is practically applied by President Trump, there is no space for European nations to wag their fingers at American expansionism or resource seizing. At some point, when the next war erupts, America must be poised to protect itself with strength and steel, and NATO has no business telling the United States that it is not allowed be dominant.
Photo: Adobe Stock
