How Trump could seize Greenland: report
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio react to a Sky News reporter's question at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
“For months, Danes have anxiously imagined an audacious move by the Trump administration to annex Greenland, whether by force, coercion, or an attempt to buy off the local population of about 56,000 people with the promise of cutting them in on future mining deals. Now those fears are spiking.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has “argued that the president’s threats are credible.”
“Unfortunately, I think the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” she told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
But The Atlantic warned, “if the U.S. goes down that road, NATO will effectively cease to exist the moment the first military personnel enter Greenlandic territory.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio react to a Sky News reporter's question at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
January 06, 2026
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump followed his weekend military incursion into Venezuela with comments that suggested warnings to several other countries, including Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran, and Greenland.
Some Europeans and the leaders of several of the countries he mentioned, appear to be taking him seriously.
“Trump’s rhetoric, including his suggestion over the weekend that Washington may have to ‘do something’ about cartels that are ‘running Mexico,’ is reviving fears in Mexico City,” Politico reported.
Trump said the government of Cuba might just fall on its own, but, as The Washington Post reported, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “went further, indicating that the United States might be willing to give it a push.”
With Trump having targeted Greenland for months, some of the territory’s leaders are now concerned it could be at risk.
“Danish officials think they know how Donald Trump might seize Greenland,” The Atlantic reported.
“In a late-night Truth Social post, the president announces that the Danish territory is now an American ‘protectorate.’ Because neither Denmark nor its European allies possess the military force to prevent the United States from taking the island, they are powerless to resist Trump’s dubious claim. And as the leading member of NATO claims the sovereign territory of another state, the alliance is paralyzed. Arguing that possession is nine-tenths of the law, Trump simply declares that Greenland now belongs to the United States.”
According to The Atlantic, this hypothetical scenario has been discussed by Danish officials and security experts in recent months. It “may have seemed faintly ridiculous,” but after Trump’s incursion in Venezuela, including his “ensuing insistence that the United States now ‘runs’ Venezuela—it seemed far less so.”
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump followed his weekend military incursion into Venezuela with comments that suggested warnings to several other countries, including Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran, and Greenland.
Some Europeans and the leaders of several of the countries he mentioned, appear to be taking him seriously.
“Trump’s rhetoric, including his suggestion over the weekend that Washington may have to ‘do something’ about cartels that are ‘running Mexico,’ is reviving fears in Mexico City,” Politico reported.
Trump said the government of Cuba might just fall on its own, but, as The Washington Post reported, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “went further, indicating that the United States might be willing to give it a push.”
With Trump having targeted Greenland for months, some of the territory’s leaders are now concerned it could be at risk.
“Danish officials think they know how Donald Trump might seize Greenland,” The Atlantic reported.
“In a late-night Truth Social post, the president announces that the Danish territory is now an American ‘protectorate.’ Because neither Denmark nor its European allies possess the military force to prevent the United States from taking the island, they are powerless to resist Trump’s dubious claim. And as the leading member of NATO claims the sovereign territory of another state, the alliance is paralyzed. Arguing that possession is nine-tenths of the law, Trump simply declares that Greenland now belongs to the United States.”
According to The Atlantic, this hypothetical scenario has been discussed by Danish officials and security experts in recent months. It “may have seemed faintly ridiculous,” but after Trump’s incursion in Venezuela, including his “ensuing insistence that the United States now ‘runs’ Venezuela—it seemed far less so.”
“For months, Danes have anxiously imagined an audacious move by the Trump administration to annex Greenland, whether by force, coercion, or an attempt to buy off the local population of about 56,000 people with the promise of cutting them in on future mining deals. Now those fears are spiking.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has “argued that the president’s threats are credible.”
“Unfortunately, I think the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” she told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
But The Atlantic warned, “if the U.S. goes down that road, NATO will effectively cease to exist the moment the first military personnel enter Greenlandic territory.”
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
The US military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. (File / AFP)
Reuters
January 06, 202621:25
Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“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,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
The US military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. (File / AFP)
Reuters
January 06, 202621:25
Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“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,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
European Parliment member Anders Vistisen, from Denmark
(Photo: Screen capture)
January 06, 2026
ALTERNET
A member of the European Parliament ridiculed President Donald Trump's top aide, Stephen Miller, implying he is ignorant about history and global affairs.
Speaking to Chris Jansing on MS NOW Tuesday, Anders Vistisen, from Denmark, said that, to some degree, they don't take Trump very seriously.
"In the sense that, of course, it's a bit annoying that every two months or so, the American president claims part of the Danish kingdom. But on the other hand, nobody really expects U.S. Marines or the military to engage in a NATO-allied country. So, I think, in Denmark, it is a great frustration that, apparently, this administration needs to deflect from their internal failures by claiming territories as Greenland, Canada or whatever else that have been mentioned during the past year."
"I don't think there's really any doubt that the USA and the military of the USA would invade Greenland that [not] much could be done about it. But as the prime minister stated, it would be a collapse of the NATO alliance to see one NATO ally attack another NATO ally's territory," he continued.
Vistisen said that he sees a big difference in what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it would mean if Trump went to war with Europe. Denmark, he noted, has been a U.S. ally for more than 70 years.
"Also the U.S. has numerous times acknowledged its sovereignty over Greenland in State Department treaties and other places," he added. "So, there's really no doubt that the territory of Greenland belongs in the Kingdom of Denmark, unless the people of Greenland decide to go in another direction. And that's a political decision for the Greenlandic people to take without any interference from overseas."
Miller appeared on CNN's Jake Tapper Monday, where he announced that the Trump administration believes it should have Greenland. Miller said that if there were to be a military action, it wouldn't be "against Greenland," implying it would be against NATO.
"What right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? The United States is the power of NATO, for the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests. Obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States."
Greenland is part of NATO, and the U.S. has the Pituffik Space Base on the island. The U.S. has had a defense pact with Denmark since 1951, and the island supports a missile warning and defense system, along with space surveillance, the Space Force website explains.
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