Trump Considers Military Action to Take Over Greenland
“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,” Leavitt told media in an emailed statement.
Leavitt added that “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.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller escalated the rhetoric Monday, declaring that no country would resist Washington if it moved to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
It was “the formal position of the U.S. government that Greenland should be part of the U.S.,” Miller told media.
Trump himself reinforced the stance in a phone interview with media on Sunday: “We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.” He suggested Venezuela may not be the last target of U.S. intervention, leaving open questions about how a strike against Caracas might relate to Greenland.
Hours after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early Saturday, Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, posted on X an image of Greenland covered with the American flag, captioned “SOON.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen pushed back Tuesday, warning: “Our country isn't something you can deny or take over because you want to.” He added, “Very basic international principles are being challenged” by Washington’s threats.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen cautioned that “if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”
European leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark issued a joint statement Tuesday, stressing that “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.” They underscored Arctic security as a critical priority for NATO and transatlantic stability, noting increased European deployments in the region.
Greenland, once a Danish colony, gained home rule in 1979. The 2009 Act on Greenland Self-Government expanded its domestic authority, though Denmark retains control over foreign, defense and security policy, according to the Danish Prime Minister’s Office.
Casey Michel, head of the Human Rights Foundation’s Combating Kleptocracy Program, warned Tuesday that “annexing Greenland would be a strategic catastrophe” for Washington. Writing in Foreign Policy, he cautioned: “Any attempt by the United States to claim the island would quickly spiral out of control. What alliance could survive something like this? What ally would ever trust the U.S. not to do the same in the future?”
“In a world of imperialism, as the saying goes, appetite grows with eating,” Michel added.
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