Donald Trump just signed a new "deal" (or maybe: a "new" deal) with Denmark and Greenland. The scare quotes are there to signify the fact that this really isn't a new deal at all -- it mostly just reaffirms the existing agreement that has been in place since the dawn of the Cold War, back in 1951. But the leaders of Greenland and Denmark were smart enough to know that repackaging what was already in place would soothe Trump's bruised ego and gave him a performative signing ceremony he could brag about. This shows the rest of the world that coddling Trump the way you would a small infant is often the best path forward for other world leaders.

The 75-year-old 1951 agreement gave the United States the power to build military bases in Greenland, which is important because of their strategic location. The threat was geographic in nature, since if the Soviet Union were going to launch an attack by sending bombers and/or intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at American targets, the logical route for them to take would be over the North Pole. This led to the construction of the "DEW Line" ("Distant Early Warning Line"). It consisted of multiple radar sites situated across the northernmost points of North America, which included Greenland. At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. had 17 military installations on Greenland, all of which were allowed by the original 1951 agreement.

America now has only one military base on Greenland, Pituffik Space Base. From the text of the agreement signed today, it appears that Trump is contemplating opening at least two more U.S. bases on the island. Greenland and northern Canada have become more strategically important recently, due to global warming causing so much ice to melt in the polar region that there is now a Northwest Passage available for ships to use on a regular basis. And Trump has been pushing for his "Golden Dome" missile defense system as well, which could easily involve sites in Greenland.

So the new agreement essentially just restated what the old agreement said: America can build military bases on Greenland. There is nothing new about that, since we've been doing so since Harry Truman was president. What is more telling is what is not in the new agreement, which can be summed up as: "all the other insane demands Trump had been making." America will not "own" Greenland. It will not become the 51st state. Denmark and Greenland itself retain their sovereignty. The U.S. will not own Greenland's mineral wealth or be able to extract it without Denmark and Greenland agreeing to such arrangements. And America will definitely not (as Trump once demanded) have "Complete and Total Control" over Greenland. In fact, the U.S. won't have any more control over the island that it did before this agreement was signed.

There were a few minor things added, but they amount mostly to tinkering around the edges of the deal that was already in place. The deal addresses what will happen if Greenland ever declares independence from Denmark, for instance. It also bars other (non-NATO) countries from building military bases on the island. But the core agreement didn't really change from what had been agreed to 75 years ago.

The agreement was necessary mostly to make Trump feel better about the fact that he didn't get to militarily invade and conquer Greenland -- which he had indeed been threatening to do, ever since he started his second term. European nations were so worried about this that they sent some troops over to Greenland for some military exercises -- the first time NATO has prepared for a possible attack by a fellow member of NATO. All that nonsense will now cease, one fervently hopes, now that Trump got a "new" deal to soothe his ego. Instead of the nasty language he had been using towards Danish and Greenlandic leaders, Trump is now singing their praises, calling them "tremendous people."

That's a pretty good trade for Denmark and Greenland to have made -- they allow Trump to sign a new agreement (that doesn't change much of anything), and he will stop his bellicose and belligerent threats against Greenland. Trump gets to brag both on the world stage and at home about his big foreign policy victory, while most people who understand what just took place roll their eyes at Trump being so easily manipulated. Trump got his signing ceremony and Europe and the rest of the world got to breathe a sigh of relief.

This "deal" may have even been instructive for Iran. They could probably take the old J.C.P.O.A. agreement they had struck with Barack Obama, change a few words here and there and add some new stuff about the Strait of Hormuz, and then present it to Trump as a brand-new agreement. At this point, Trump would probably leap at the opportunity to bring an end to his costly and ill-advised war -- as long as nobody pointed out to him that it was essentially the same as Obama's agreement. The old agreement severely limited Iran's ability to enrich uranium, so Trump could claim he had forced them to "never have a nuclear weapon." There'd be a big signing ceremony and Trump could declare victory and bring all the soldiers and sailors home.

This would essentially put the world back to where it was the day before Trump tore up Obama's agreement. It would be a massive admission of not only failure, but of Trump's idiocy in tearing that agreement up. But Trump wouldn't see it that way, which is the most important thing. Trump would see it as a stupendous history-changing event that he personally solved forever.

Because, as the Iceland agreement plainly shows, putting old wine in a new bottle works wonders with Trump. All he cares about are the performative signing ceremonies and having bragging rights afterwards. Give him that, and he'll be happy.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant