US Considers Military Action Amid Renewed Greenland Tensions: Strategic Options on the Table

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The White House said on Tuesday that United States President Donald Trump is discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including potential use of the US military, in a revival of his ambition to control the strategic island despite European objections.

Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” the White House said in a statement.

“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,” the White House said.

Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the US, and leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind the Arctic territory on Tuesday, saying it belongs to its people.

A recent U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s leader over the weekend has sparked renewed fears that Greenland could become the target of a similar initiative.

Those fears have been fanned by Trump’s continued expressions of desire to gain control of Greenland, an idea first voiced in 2019 during his first presidency, arguing it is vital for the US military and that Denmark has not done enough to protect it.

‘Greenland belongs to its people’

A joint statement issued by the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark — and backed by Canada and the Netherlands — read: “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

The leaders said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with NATO allies, including the US.

“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up,” the statement said.

To fend off US criticism over Greenland’s defence capabilities, Denmark last year pledged 42 billion Danish crowns ($9.76 billion) to boost its military presence in the Arctic.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters in Warsaw: “No member should attack or threaten another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Otherwise, NATO would lose its meaning … “

In a separate statement, Nordic foreign ministers — from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark — also stressed Greenland’s right to decide its own affairs, while noting they had increased their investments in Arctic security and offering to do more in consultation with the US and other NATO allies.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the European leaders’ pledge of solidarity and renewed his call to the US for a “respectful dialogue”.

Real world ‘governed by force’, Miller says

Asked whether he trusts Trump, Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the Nordic nation trusts its membership of the NATO military alliance, of which it is a founding member alongside the US and others.

Rasmussen rejected earlier statements by Trump that Denmark is unable to protect Greenland.

“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 in the island.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller recently dismissed concerns about Danish sovereignty.

“You can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else,” Miller told CNN on Monday. “But we live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”

Greenland’s government said it had asked for an urgent meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, alongside Denmark’s foreign minister, to discuss the situation.

“Unfortunately, our requests for a meeting have for a long time been unsuccessful,” Greenland foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt said in a Facebook post.

Trump’s Greenland envoy talks down military intervention

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

Asked whether security should be handled in conjunction with NATO, he said: “I think we should ask the Greenlanders.”

Landry 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.

Miller said on Monday there was no need to think about the issue in the context of a military operation. “Nobody is going to fight the US militarily over the future of Greenland,” he told CNN in an interview.

Just hours after Saturday’s Venezuela operation, Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, posted on X a map of Greenland painted with the stars and stripes, accompanied by the text “SOON”.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, but with a population of just 57,000 people, is not an independent member of NATO but is covered by Denmark’s membership of the Western alliance.

The island’s strategic location between Europe and North America makes it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defence system. Its mineral wealth also aligns with the US’ ambition to reduce reliance on Chinese exports.