Diplomacy

Trump threatens to take over Greenland, diplomatic tensions with Denmark and NATO

The United States pushes for control of Greenland while Europe and NATO react with defence plans and dialogues to preserve the sovereignty of the Arctic island

12 January 2026

Trump: "In un modo o nell'altro avremo la Groenlandia"

6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Trump administration officials will meet with Denmark's counterpart on Wednesday to address the Greenland issue. This is what Cbsnews writes, citing diplomatic sources, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen yesterday confirmed a meeting between Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for this week. Rubio told Congress last week that Donald Trump is interested in acquiring the Arctic island that is Danish autonomous territory, adding that a number of options are being considered for the acquisition of Greenland, which Trump considers essential for national security issues, not excluding the use of military force. "If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will take it and we can't have that," Trump said last week at the White House, "I'd like to make a deal with them, it's easier, but one way or another we're going to have Greenland, if we don't do it the easy way we're going to do it the hard way.

Nuuk, strengthening security both in NATO

However, the announcement of a meeting between the US and Denmark does not reflect a softening of the Danish government on the issue of sovereignty over the island. "The US has once again reiterated its desire to take control of Greenland. The governing coalition in Greenland can in no way accept this,' reads a statement from the Greenlandic government, in response to the US president's latest comments. "Greenland is part of the Danish Kingdom, is a member of NATO and the defence of Greenland must therefore be through NATO," the statement continues. "Based on the very positive declaration for Greenland by the six NATO member states, the Government of Greenland will increase its work to ensure that the defence of Greenland takes place under the auspices of NATO. All NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defence of Greenland, and the coalition government in Greenland will therefore work together with Denmark to ensure that dialogue and defence development in Greenland takes place in NATO cooperation,' the statement read. Finally, the Greenlandic government added that it would 'be part of the Western defence alliance in the future'.

UK and EU negotiate troop deployment

While waiting to see the outcome of the US-Denmark face-to-face, European countries are taking action to avoid the risk of a US territorial grab on an island that is to all intents and purposes considered European territory. The United Kingdom, for example, is reportedly negotiating with EU allies to send a military force to Greenland to convince Trump to abandon annexationist aims on the Danish island, Downing Street sources quoted by the Telegraph say. The design takes shape under the direction of London and Berlin, officially presented as a response to the increasing pressure from Russia and China in the Arctic. But the stakes are much higher: to cool the White House's sights on Greenland and build a credible deterrent to an invasion that would shake the foundations of Nato.

The European allies, according to Downing Street sources quoted by the Telegraph, are considering a possible deployment of troops on the autonomous territory of Denmark. An orientation that the Atlantic Alliance has begun to translate on the ground by kicking off new exercises and reiterating, through the mouth of the supreme commander Alexus Grynkewich, the will to strengthen the military presence in the far north. London has started to move the pawns by opening preliminary channels with Berlin and Paris on a plan that - still in its embryonic phase - would contemplate the deployment of soldiers, naval units and air assets on the island of ice.

NATO mission on the island, Mertz certain of US participation

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz extends his hand to Washington by letting it be known that he also expects the United States to participate in an increased NATO presence to improve the security of Greenland. "We share American concerns about the need to better protect this part of Denmark," Merz said during his visit to India in Ahmedabad. "We simply want to improve the security situation in Greenland together. And I assume that the Americans will also participate."

He was echoed by Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares: 'If around Greenland or in the Arctic there are now things that could jeopardise the security of the Atlantic Alliance, I am sure' that with NATO allies 'we could analyse' the situation and, 'if security needs to be strengthened, it would be strengthened'. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, raised the possibility of NATO involvement in the Arctic region in light of the Greenland dispute with the United States. "Greenland belongs to its citizens. If there are concerns about the security of the island, NATO is well positioned to allay these concerns,' he told the German newspaper Welt.

Trump: I may have to choose between NATO and Greenland

Meanwhile, 'The Donald' weighs in on the issue, in an interview with the New York Times. "I don't want to say" which is my top priority between getting Greenland and preserving Nato unity, "but it might be a choice", because "Russia is not at all worried about Nato without us. China is not at all worried about Nato without us,' stressed Donald Trump. "Unfortunately," the US president continued, "Europe is becoming a very different place, and they really need to get their act together. I want them to get their act together. I think we will always get along with Europe, but I want them to get their act together. I'm the one who convinced them to spend more, you know, more GDP on Nato. But with respect to NATO, Russia, I can say, is not worried at all about any other country but us. And I have been very loyal. Look, I have been very loyal to Europe. I have done a good job. If it wasn't for me, Russia would have all of Ukraine right now,' Trump argued.

Rutte: no risk of internal NATO crisis due to Trump's remarks

The US President's remarks do not seem to worry the NATO Secretary General, who today ruled out the risk of an internal crisis within the Atlantic Alliance over the threat to annex Greenland. "No, not at all, and I think we are really working in the right direction," Rutte said in response to a question at a press conference in Zagreb about the American threat with respect to Greenland and, specifically, the fact that it is undermining the Atlantic Alliance. "When someone is useful to the Alliance and does positive things, I recognise that. I think Donald Trump is doing the right things for NATO, encouraging all of us to spend more and rebalance what the United States spends,' the Nato number one continued.

Rutte recalled the NATO summit in The Hague, describing it as "very successful", at which the allies agreed to aim for 5 per cent defence spending, 3.5 per cent of which was earmarked for basic defence. "I am absolutely convinced that without Donald Trump we would never have achieved this result," he said, adding that without the former US president the Alliance would not have even met the 2 per cent target decided in 2014 at the summit. "Today the whole Alliance is on 2 per cent and working towards 3.5 per cent. These are incredible steps,' he stressed, pointing out that his appreciations 'are based on facts'.

Mistakes in the US special envoy's historical reconstruction

The US special envoy to Greenland Jeff Landry posts on X: Denmark, according to him, 'occupied' the island after the Second World War, regaining control of it 'in violation of United Nations protocols. History is important,' writes the diplomat who is also governor of Louisiana, a state that does not exactly enjoy an Arctic overlook. "The United States defended the sovereignty of Greenland during World War II when Denmark failed to do so. After the war, Denmark reoccupied it by circumventing and ignoring UN protocol. This should be hospitality, not hostility'.

Precisely because history is important, Landry should know thatthe first Danish settlements on the island date back to 1721; that in 1814 Greenland officially became a Danish possession and in 1953 an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark with the status of a 'county'. Since 2009, by virtue of the Self Government Act, the island has been an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark with a strong push towards independence, although still dependent on Copenhagen for finance, defence and foreign policy. And receiving a considerable annual subsidy.

Against this bleak backdrop comes the comment of EU Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, speaking at the Security Policy Conference in Salen, Sweden: for Europe 'now is the time to deliver' on defence, 'because, as Chancellor Merz recently said, the time for pax americana is over'.