Even as the threat of reckless military intervention in Iran receded, if only for the moment, the dangers facing Greenland were underscored as European troops flew in on Thursday. Meetings in Washington had failed to bridge the “fundamental disagreement” over its future, with Mr Trump reiterating that the US “needs” Greenland and Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, warning that the president is still set on “conquering” Greenland. Venezuela is on the back burner for now, after Mr Trump took his lap of victory for illegally snatching Nicolás Maduro. But he has already warned Cuba, Colombia and Mexico that they could be next. Alarmingly, the former anti-interventionist has concluded that foreign adventures have fewer costs than he anticipated and more gains. He hopes that menace, spectacle and diversion can work abroad as well as domestically.