President Trump is still talking about Greenland — and his interest in taking over the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark has only intensified in recent days.
Trump initially floated the idea of buying Greenland during his first term in 2019, but he was immediately brushed off at the time.
He again ramped up rhetoric on the matter at the start of this year, after the U.S. military’s operation that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and plucked him from his country. Maduro served as the nation’s president for more than a decade before his capture in Caracas on Jan. 3. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, are currently being held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center on narco-terrorism charges.
Since then, Trump has repeatedly argued the U.S. needs control of Greenland for national security. He has further tried to justify the takeover by claiming that China and Russia have their own sights set on the Arctic territory, which is also home to sweeping untapped reserves of critical minerals.
What’s more, Greenland is located off the northeastern coast of Canada, between the United States and Europe, a prime location along what’s referred to as the GIUK Gap. The maritime passage — named using the initials of the nations it connects — runs between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K., linking the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean, leading into North America.
Trump’s latest efforts to acquire the gigantic icebound island has triggered global tensions. While officials in both Greenland and Denmark have again rejected Trump’s plan, and even members of his own party have indicted an invasion could trigger bipartisan support for his impeachment, the president continues to persist.
Here’s the latest:
Danish leadership visit D.C.
Officials from Denmark on Wednesday arrived in Washington, D.C., where they sat down for a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Afterwards, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said a “fundamental disagreement” remained between the parties involved. He also acknowledged they did not manage to change any minds,” but added that they didn’t expect to.
It remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Rasmussen told reporters.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Moving forward, the sides have agreed to form a high-level working group “to explore if we can find a common way forward,” the foreign minister continued, adding its first meeting would be “within a matter of weeks.”
Trump, who did not attend Wednesday’s sit-down, remained optimistic about acquiring the island.
“We need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
On Thursday, the White House described the forthcoming discussions as “technical talks on the acquisition agreement” between the U.S. and Greenland.
NATO troops in Greenland
Just as talks got underway in Washington, the Danish Defense Ministry announced it would be bolstering its presence in Greenland with support from other NATO allies. France, Germany, Norway and Sweden said they too would be sending in troops, albeit in small numbers.
While it is a pointed military action, it’s more a symbolic gesture to signal a takeover of the massive island — made up of approximately 836,000 square miles — is unwarranted.
The German Defense Ministry, which provided 13 troops, said its goal was to show “a strong signal of our unity.” The U.K. sent along one British officer while French President Emmanuel Macron offered 15 soldiers from its mountain infantry unit, already in the area for a military exercise.
Trump once again appeared to brush off the pushback.
“The president has made his priority quite clear, that he wants the United States to acquire Greenland,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “He thinks it’s in our best national security to do that.”
The United States, meanwhile, already has a military presence in Greenland — Pituffik Space Base, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951.
Trump’s tariffs on NATO allies
After Trump said Friday he was mulling the possibility of using tariffs against the NATO allies who don’t support America’s takeover of Greenland, he made good on that threat Saturday, announcing that he would charge a 10% import tax beginning Feb. 1 on all goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands and Finland.
In a post on his social media platform, the president said the rate would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States.
He repeated his claim that China and Russia would threaten to take Greenland if the U.S. doesn’t, and that Denmark can’t do anything about it.
“This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet,” Trump wrote in the post. “These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.”
The president said he was immediately open to negotiations.
Several leaders from the targeted countries slammed Trump over his tariff threats.
“We will not let ourselves be blackmailed. Only Denmark and Greenland decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement on Saturday. “I will always stand up for my country, and for our allied neighbors.”
Trump, who has repeatedly tried to use trade penalties to bend allies and rivals alike to his will, has also warned of potential military action should his plans to purchase Greenland fall through.
“President Trump has made it well-known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” Leavitt said earlier this month. “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”
Greenland and Denmark’s history
Home to nearly 56,000 people, most of them Inuit, Greenland has its own local government, but it’s also part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In addition, Greenland has two representatives in the Danish Parliament, called the Folketing.
The island was initially inhabited by Nordic Vikings in the 10th century, after Erik the Red was banished from Iceland for manslaughter.
The Nordic remained there unbothered for centuries, until the early 1700s, when colonization efforts began. In 1721, Hans Egede, a Norwegian priest and missionary with support from the united Dano-Norwegian crown, established contact with Greenland.
When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland remained under Danish rule. It stayed a colony until 1953, when it was fully integrated into the Danish state. Then in 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland. That means that while Denmark manages the island territory’s foreign policy, Greenland still has its own prime minister and government to deal with internal affairs.
Officials from both nations have repeatedly rejected any type of American takeover. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stood together during a press conference on Tuesday, and they doubled down on the matter.
“If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Nielsen said. “We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”
Demonstrators in Denmark echoed that sentiment. Hundreds gathered in Copenhagen on Saturday in support of Greenland and its right to self-rule.
With News Wire Services
