President Donald Trump isn’t crazy to want a greater U.S. role in Greenland for national security reasons—and he probably could have negotiated a quick deal to expand U.S. military access and investment there with Denmark, which owns the island.

But Trump’s swaggering campaign to buy Greenland or seize it outright has instead produced a crisis that could damage American security for decades—far outweighing any gains from control of the barren island. “Shooting yourself in the foot” is too generous a description for Trump’s effort. It’s more like shooting yourself in the head.

President Donald Trump isn’t crazy to want a greater U.S. role in Greenland for national security reasons—and he probably could have negotiated a quick deal to expand U.S. military access and investment there with Denmark, which owns the island.

But Trump’s swaggering campaign to buy Greenland or seize it outright has instead produced a crisis that could damage American security for decades—far outweighing any gains from control of the barren island. “Shooting yourself in the foot” is too generous a description for Trump’s effort. It’s more like shooting yourself in the head.

Trump’s obsession with Greenland, which has grown year by year since 2017, seemed at first just another example of his 19th-century atavism. The Danish government initially adopted a “nice kitty” strategy of privately floating ideas for a new security agreement. But Denmark and the rest of Europe realized this month that Trump was serious about gaining control of the island, by force if necessary.

“Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland,” Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, bragged to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday. “Utilizing the U.S. military is always an option,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement the next........

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