Trump plans Greenland acquisition, White House says military options open

US President Donald Trump is discussing options for acquiring Greenland to achieve a key foreign policy objective, the White House said on Tuesday (Jan 6). The statement suggested that the administration is exploring various strategies, including US military intervention, in a revival of Trump’s ambition to control the island.

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

“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the statement said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday, January 5, warned that a US military attack on Greenland would put an end to the NATO military alliance.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

She had earlier urged Trump to “stop the threats” over the idea of the United States taking control of Greenland.

Frederiksen said, “It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” and added, “The US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom”.

Just hours after the US military operations in Venezuela, the rightwing podcaster Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s powerful deputy chief of staff for policy, posted on X a map of Greenland draped in the stars and stripes with the caption: “SOON.”

Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of Greenland becoming part of the United States, citing its strategic position and mineral resources.