President Donald Trump has reignited a diplomatic firestorm by publicly stating the United States must take control of Greenland, just one day after US forces captured Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, in a daring raid. The demand has been met with fierce resistance from Denmark, which governs the autonomous territory.
Denmark and Greenland Deliver a Firm Rejection
In a statement released on Sunday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed Trump's assertion as nonsensical. "It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the US needing to take over Greenland," she said, adding that the US has no right to annex any part of the Danish Kingdom. She urged Washington to stop threatening a historically close ally.
Greenland's own Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, labelled the comments "disrespectful". He expressed alarm at Trump linking Greenland to the military intervention in Venezuela, stating it was not only incorrect but showed a profound lack of respect for the Greenlandic people.
Despite the backlash, Trump has refused to rule out using military force to acquire the island, a stance that has escalated tensions following the audacious operation in Caracas which saw Maduro extracted from his bedroom and flown to the US.
Why the World's Largest Island is a Coveted Prize
Greenland, with a population of just 57,000, holds significant strategic and economic allure. Its geographic position in the Arctic and vast untapped resources—including oil, uranium, and rare earth minerals—have long attracted global powers.
Trump is not the first US president to covet the island. Attempts to purchase it were made in 1846 and again in 1946 for a sum equivalent to £970 million in today's value. While those bids failed, the US maintained a strategic military presence, operating the Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) with Denmark's agreement throughout the Cold War.
Today, with ice sheets melting and new sea routes opening, access to these resources is becoming easier. Furthermore, rising tensions with Russia and China's growing interest in investing in Greenland have heightened its perceived strategic importance for Washington.
However, Professor Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen cautions that extracting Greenland's wealth is prohibitively expensive and logistically daunting due to the extreme climate and lack of infrastructure.
Could Greenland Become the Next Venezuela?
Militarily, experts believe the US would face little resistance if it chose to invade Greenland's sparsely populated territory. The power disparity between the US and Denmark is vast, and the Nordic nation has been slow to bolster its Arctic defences.
Professor Rasmussen noted that controlling Greenland's main population centres would not be difficult for US forces. The critical question is whether Trump would cross the Rubicon and attack a key NATO ally. Such an act could destroy the alliance, experts warn.
Instead, foreign policy analysts suggest Trump may use the threat of force, much like "placing a gun on the negotiating table," to intimidate Denmark into concessions. The precedent set in Venezuela, where the US demonstrated a willingness to violate international law, adds weight to this threat.
So far, European nations have rallied behind Denmark. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stated he "stands with Denmark," affirming that only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark should decide its future.
Nick Melvin of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) believes the Trump team is actively planning for annexation, seeing it as a potential legacy. However, without a pretext like the drug charges used against Maduro, he argues the move would face significant domestic opposition in the US and might require a complex process, potentially involving a referendum in Greenland.
With roughly 85% of Greenlanders opposing joining the USA, and the Danish government adamant the territory is not for sale, Trump's ambition sets the stage for a major transatlantic crisis.
