US says no hesitation in using military power in Greenland if “needed”

The United States has openly raised the prospect of using military force to take control of Greenland, prompting a rare show of unity from European leaders and Canada, who stressed that the Arctic island belongs to its people, not Washington.

In a statement on Tuesday, the White House said US President Donald Trump views acquiring Greenland as a national security priority, arguing it is necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region”. Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

“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 statement said.

Any attempt by the US to seize Greenland from a NATO ally would reverberate across the alliance, further straining already tense relations between Trump and European capitals. But pushback from allies has so far done little to cool the rhetoric.

Trump’s renewed fixation on Greenland dates back to his first term, when he floated the idea of buying the island in 2019. That interest has sharpened following the US’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an attack on Caracas, an operation that appears to have emboldened the White House.

In recent remarks, Trump declared that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again”, while escalating pressure on Colombia and Cuba. He has also framed Greenland as a security necessity, claiming the island “is covered with Russian and Chinese ships” and insisting Denmark lacks the capacity to defend it.

Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of about 57,000, has repeatedly said it does not want to become part of the United States.

Its strategic importance is real. Greenland sits between North America and Europe, hosts the US Pituffik Space Base, and holds significant mineral resources that align with Washington’s efforts to reduce reliance on China. But for European leaders, that reality does not override sovereignty.

On Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a joint statement affirming that Greenland “belongs to its people”.

“It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the statement said.

Canada echoed that position. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Governor General Mary Simon, who is Inuit, and Foreign Minister Anita Anand would visit Greenland early next month in a show of solidarity.

Nordic foreign ministers from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark also underlined Greenland’s right to self-determination, noting increased investments in Arctic security and offering deeper coordination with the US and NATO.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk went further, warning that threats against a NATO member strike at the heart of the alliance itself.

“No member should attack or threaten another ‌member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Otherwise, NATO would lose its meaning,” he said.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the backing and renewed his call for a “respectful dialogue” with Washington. Denmark rejected Trump’s claim that it cannot safeguard the island.

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

Greenland’s government has requested an urgent meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, alongside Rasmussen, to discuss the situation.

Mixed signals from Washington have only added to the confusion. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, recently appointed by Trump as special envoy to Greenland, said he has no interest in speaking with Danish or European officials, instead preferring to talk directly to Greenlanders about “opportunity” and quality of life.

At the same time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rubio told lawmakers the rhetoric did not signal an imminent invasion and that the White House’s actual goal remains buying the island from Denmark, using pressure to force negotiations.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller brushed aside concerns about sovereignty in an interview with CNN. “You can ⁠talk all you want about international niceties and everything else,” he said. “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.”

When asked about military action, Miller was blunt: “Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”

Some US lawmakers disagree. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, who co-chair the Senate NATO Observer Group, warned that Washington must respect Danish sovereignty.

“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honour its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and ‌territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” they said.