President Donald Trump has not abandoned his efforts to acquire Greenland — indeed, he is pressing ahead. On Sunday night, the president named Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, as a special envoy to the autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, a decision that angered both Greenlanders and Danes.

“Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Landry quickly responded: “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!”

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Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, blasted the move.

“I’m deeply upset about the appointment and the statement, which I find completely unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen told Danish media TV2, as CNBC reported.

Trump, CNBC noted, “has refused to rule out the use of force” to acquire Greenland, whose “leaders have criticized the U.S. administration’s calls for the country to become a U.S. territory.”

The New York Times likened the appointment of a special envoy to the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, at least in one respect — in each case, the president “tapped someone close to him to manage all of these as priorities.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul called the appointment of a special envoy “outrageous.”

“Imagine,” he wrote, “if Mexico appointed a special envoy to make Louisiana a part of Mexico? Our ally Denmark deserves more respect than this.”

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Valerie Morkevičius, an associate professor of political science, charged that Governor Landry is proclaiming “his support for violating an ally’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

She noted: “US foreign policy these days operates at the corner of shame and shambolic.”

The Times reported that “the appointment drew condemnation from Greenland and further deteriorated the relationship between the United States and Denmark, which used to be close allies.”

“You cannot annex other countries,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of Greenland said in a joint statement on Monday. “Not even by invoking international security. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and the United States must not take over Greenland.”

Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, called Landry’s appointment a “significant escalation.”

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President Donald Trump is continuing his efforts to rebrand the government in his image. He has tried to restore the U.S. Department of Defense’s name to the Department of War. He removed the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center and installed his allies and administration officials, who then tried to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. He demolished the East Wing of the White House in an attempt to build a ballroom. He redesigned the Rose Garden — twice. He has allegedly eyed four other historic U.S. government buildings for demolition or disposal. And he wants to build a triumphal arch in Washington, D.C.

Now there is more.

President Trump has his eye on the three public golf courses in Washington, D.C., which have a 50-year lease as part of a trust designed to keep them affordable, according to The Hill.

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The Trump administration reportedly has sent a notice of default to the National Links Trust, a local public-private nonprofit that oversees the properties. The notice reportedly did not explain why the trust is in default or what it needed to do to remedy the situation.

“Trump’s efforts are widely seen as a first step by the president to take over the courses for potential redevelopment and put his mark on the D.C. golf scene permanently — just as he did last week by renaming the Kennedy Center after himself,” The Hill reported.

The White House has not denied the president appears interested in the golf courses.

“President Trump is a champion-level golfer with an extraordinary eye for detail and design, and his vision to renovate and beautify DC’s public golf courses will bring much needed improvements that American citizens will be able to enjoy,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.

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Charles Allen, a member of the D.C. council described as an avid golfer, told The Hill that it concerns him “to have the Trump administration terminate the lease for, let’s be honest, made-up reasons. It seems to be about a grab of the land for the wealthy and well connected.”

Two prominent Democratic lawmakers are blasting this latest effort to remake or rebrand government properties and institutions.

“That ambition is reflective of a kingly approach to his job,” U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told The Hill. “He thinks government property belongs to him … it reflects the same mentality as bulldozing the East Wing. I haven’t heard anyone in the District, Maryland or Virginia say what the area needs is some Trump-run golf courses.”

U. S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) told The Hill that “Trump should focus less on vanity projects and personal vendettas and spend more time lowering costs for the American people.”

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U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a “staunch” Trump ally, late Friday afternoon suspended her campaign for governor after failing to secure President Donald Trump’s endorsement. The New York Republican also announced she will not seek re-election to Congress.

“I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” Stefanik said in her statement, while insisting that she would have “overwhelmingly won this primary.” Instead, she decided that “it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Stefanik saw her nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations withdrawn. She also battled with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, at times very publicly.

“At war with Johnson and double-burned by Trump, what’s the incentive to finish her term?” asked New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni.

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“WOW,” exclaimed Inside Elections’ Jacob Rubashkin, “a roller coaster of a few years for Stefanik, who seemed on a rocket ship to GOP leadership, then to a UN ambassadorship, then to the gubernatorial nomination, and now with none and headed for the exits.”

Cook Political Report’s Matthew Klein noted that “Stefanik’s path was borderline nonexistent. She was simply way too conservative and Trump-aligned to win in New York state.”

“Quite the rise and fall story,” observed former anchor turned podcaster Chuck Todd. “Sliding doors alternative histories galore with her career.”

“She went from moderate to full MAGA for nothing,” noted HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery.

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