WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is weighing options, including the use of military force, to take control of Greenland, the White House said on Tuesday, a move Denmark has warned could destroy the NATO alliance.
Trump has intensified his interest in the mineral-rich, self-governing Danish territory in the Arctic since US forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last weekend.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “acquiring Greenland is a national security priority” for Trump, citing the need to counter rivals such as Russia and China.
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal,” she said in a statement to AFP.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers Trump’s preferred option remains purchasing Greenland from Denmark, adding that the threats did not indicate an imminent invasion.
Denmark has warned that any attempt to seize Greenland by force would bring “everything to a halt,” including NATO and eight decades of close transatlantic security ties.
Any US military action against Greenland would effectively collapse NATO, as Article Five obliges alliance members to defend any state that comes under attack.
Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said on social media that officials had sought a meeting with Rubio throughout 2025 but that “it has so far not been possible”.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said a meeting with Rubio should help “clear up certain misunderstandings”, while Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated that the island was not for sale and that only its 57,000 residents could determine its future.
‘Not acceptable’
Allies have voiced support for Denmark and Greenland while attempting not to provoke Trump.
Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain joined Denmark in a statement on Tuesday pledging to defend the “universal principles” of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both sought to downplay the dispute while attending Ukraine peace talks in Paris alongside Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“I cannot imagine a scenario in which the United States of America would be placed in a position to violate Danish sovereignty,” Macron said.
The United States currently has around 150 military personnel stationed at Greenland’s Pituffik Space Base.
Greenlanders have also rejected Trump’s remarks.
“This is not something we appreciate,” Christian Keldsen, director of the Greenland Business Association, told AFP in Nuuk. “It is not acceptable in the civilized world.”
Trump has floated the idea of annexing Greenland since his first term. Over the past year, Denmark has increased security spending, allocating about 90 billion kroner ($14 billion).
‘Big and strong’
Anger over Trump’s seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has spilled into Congress, where US lawmakers on Tuesday criticised the idea of military action against Greenland.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, said he would introduce a resolution “to block Trump from invading Greenland”, accusing the 79-year-old Republican of simply wanting “a giant island with his name on it”.
“He wouldn’t think twice about putting our troops in danger if it makes him feel big and strong,” Gallego wrote.
In a rare break from party loyalty, some Republicans also pushed back.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not believe it was “appropriate” for Washington to take military action against Greenland, according to Politico.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told HuffPost the move was “none of our business” and warned it would lead to “the demise of NATO”.
Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon was even more blunt, writing on X: “This is really dumb. Greenland and Denmark are our allies.”
