Exploring Trump's Ambitious Greenland Acquisition: Urgent Discussions Underway

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President Donald Trump is once again suggesting the United States should control Greenland — a widely-criticised pursuit an administration official reportedly says “is not going away”.

Trump’s interest in the autonomous Danish territory is long-standing. He first suggested purchasing it in 2019 during his first term, with his rhetoric ramping up again in early 2025 as he began his second.

The US president wants to acquire Greenland to bolster national security and “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region”, according to the White House, and has not ruled out the use of military force to do so.

Greenland’s government is set to participate in a meeting next week with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish officials. This gathering comes in light of the United States rekindling its interest in the Arctic island, Greenland’s foreign minister announced on Wednesday.

Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has said a military takeover of Greenland would mark the end of the NATO military alliance.

According to a senior U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters anonymously to discuss private discussions, President Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland remains a persistent agenda for the next three years of his administration.

Strategically positioned between Europe and North America, Greenland is a crucial asset for the U.S. ballistic missile defense system. Moreover, the island’s rich mineral resources fall in line with Washington’s goal to decrease its dependency on Chinese exports.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, not a country. Its population of about 56,000 are full citizens of Denmark and, by extension, the European Union.

Although controlled by Denmark, Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, is over 3,500km away from Copenhagen and sits between the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, off the coast of North America.

Although Greenland is not an independent NATO member, it benefits from Denmark’s involvement in the Western alliance. This relationship underscores the geopolitical significance of the island within the broader context of NATO’s operations.

A map showing the geographical relation between the US, Denmark and Greenland.

Greenland is not an independent member of NATO but is covered by Denmark’s membership of the Western alliance. Source: SBS News

Trump has argued Greenland is vital for the US military and that Denmark has not done enough to protect it. This is despite Denmark last year pledging 42 billion Danish crowns ($9.73 billion) to boost its military presence in Arctics in a bid to fend off US criticism over Greenland’s defence capabilities.

“Greenland is covered with Russia and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said this week.

“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

But the Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has rejected this claim.

“We do not share this image that Greenland is plastered with Chinese investments … nor that there are Chinese warships up and down along Greenland,” he said, adding that the US was welcome to invest more on the island.

The leaders of France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark have said in a joint statement that Greenland “belongs to its people”, and that it matters regarding the territory are for Denmark and Greenland to decide.

Greenland’s government on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) said it had asked for an urgent meeting with Rubio to discuss the situation, alongside Rasmussen, who said the talks should “clear up certain misunderstandings”.

What could Trump do next?

Frederiksen this week said Trump “should be taken seriously” as she urged the US to “stop its threats”.

“If the US chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of World War Two,” Frederiksen said on Monday.

NATO countries, comprising North American and European states, have a responsibility to come to the defence of a fellow member under attack.

Not everyone believes Trump would use military force to take Greenland, despite the White House not ruling out such a move.

When asked about the Europeans’ joint statement on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), US special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, told US broadcaster CNBC: “Security should be a major concern for the United States”.

He said Trump was offering Greenland economic opportunities but he did not think the president would take it by force.

“I think that the president supports an independent Greenland with economic ties and trade opportunities for the United States,” Landry said, adding that the US had more to offer than Europe.

The US official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright purchase of Greenland by the US at an unknown price or forming a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the territory.

A COFA agreement grants citizens of the partner country the right to live, work, and study in the US without a visa, while the US provides economic and defence assistance to the nation.

“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.

The White House said in a statement to Reuters: “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”

Concerns over NATO, Russia and China

Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and now a professor of strategy and security at the University of Exeter in the UK, said Trump’s push to control Greenland could threaten the NATO alliance.

A US military takeover of Greenland would put NATO allies at odds, “hollow out” the alliance and make it “far less cohesive and effective”.

“It would certainly create probably NATO’s biggest crisis in history,” he told ABC Radio National on Wednesday morning.

“It would certainly push the Europeans much faster down the road where they’re going ready, which is to try to spend more on their own defence, invest more in their own defence capabilities and weapons and try to reduce their dependency on the United States.”

Nordic foreign ministers — from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark — in a joint statement this week said had increased their investments in Arctic security and offered to do more in consultation with the US and other NATO allies.

Shea said Trump’s concerns over Russian or Chinese influence over Greenland are unfounded.

“Greenland is part of NATO’s integrated defence system. The Europeans send military forces there from time to time. The US already has a military base on Greenland.

“The idea that somehow NATO and Europe are neglecting Greenland’s defence, and therefore the United States has to step in, strikes me as a little bit overblown, quite frankly.”

— With additional reporting by Reuters news agency.