An aircraft allegedly carrying U.S. businessman Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 7, 2025.Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that the White House seeks to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of Denmark known for its vast critical minerals and strategic Arctic location. Just how the United States plans to do this, though, remains unclear—even among senior U.S. officials.
In recent days, Trump has doubled down on his imperial ambitions, calling U.S. ownership of the Danish territory a matter of “national security.” This is despite Copenhagen being a member of NATO, and despite the United States having legally recognized Danish sovereignty over Greenland since 1916 in exchange for Denmark selling the Danish West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) to the United States.
Trump has previously refused to rule out the use of military force or economic coercion to accomplish his agenda. However, when Trump’s staff has been asked about the United States’ specific plan for the island, the messaging has been mixed. During a closed briefing with lawmakers on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly said that the White House aims to buy Greenland—downplaying military action amid warnings from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that such an operation would endanger NATO’s very existence.
However, that same day, U.S. deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN that “nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.” And on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated that Trump intends to acquire Greenland one way or the other, adding that “the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal.”
After months of brushing off Trump’s comments, Greenland’s European allies appear to finally be taking action. On Tuesday, the leaders of seven NATO countries issued a joint statement condemning U.S. ambitions to annex Greenland. “Greenland belongs to its people,” they wrote. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told local media that the issue is also being discussed with his European counterparts. “We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners,” he said on France Inter radio. A senior European official told Reuters on Wednesday that Denmark must lead this effort but that “the Danes have yet to communicate to their European allies what kind of concrete support they wish to receive.”
Following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, some NATO officials have expressed concern that Greenland could be the next target of U.S. military action. Barrot on Wednesday said that he had spoken with Rubio, who “discarded the idea that what just happened in Venezuela could happen in Greenland.” That same day, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson also said that while “the U.S. always has military options for everything, I think with Greenland, it’s very clear that we are working through diplomatic channels.”
European officials have called for the issue to be raised at NATO’s next North Atlantic Council meeting, scheduled for Thursday. Meanwhile, Rubio is expected to meet with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen next week to discuss Greenland’s future.