❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump administration reiterated its intentions to acquire Greenland from Denmark, with the Danes claiming a takeover would “end” NATO and European leaders signing a joint statement in support of the Scandinavian country.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, and leaders in seven European nations.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Statements were made over the weekend and into Tuesday, with reactions from Europe and the U.S.
💬KEY QUOTE: “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
🎯IMPACT: European allies expressed strong opposition, emphasizing sovereignty and collective NATO security principles.
The United States has renewed its focus on Greenland, with President Donald J. Trump emphasizing the territory’s importance to American national security amid growing Arctic tensions. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump said on Sunday.
These statements follow heightened worries over regional security and strategic positioning in the Arctic as China and Russia encroach on the region. White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller has reinforced this view, declaring: “It is the formal position of the U.S. government that Greenland should be part of the U.S.”
Greenland is an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark, and European leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Britain have published a joint statement with the Danes insisting that “Greenland belongs to its people [and it] is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
“Security in the Arctic must… be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them,” the statement says.
Separately, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen cautioned that “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops… including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.” However, Miller has dismissed such rhetoric, arguing that “Nobody’s going to fight the U.S. over the future of Greenland.”
With around 57,000 residents, Greenland enjoys broad internal autonomy while relying on Denmark for defense and international affairs. Most Greenlanders are ethnically native Inuit, also known as Eskimos, and want independence from Denmark—although not if it means losing their funding from the Scandinavian country, which accounts for a large share of the Greenlandic economy. It is feasible that the U.S., with a far larger economy than Denmark, could offer the Greenlanders a superior deal in exchange for some form of protectorate status, despite current surveys indicating resistance to being incorporated into the U.S.
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