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By Mandy Taheri
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland would be “unacceptable,” escalating his rhetoric about potential political and military control of the island.
His comments come as the United States and Denmark are already bound by a decades-old defense agreement governing U.S. military activities in Greenland, which later became a party to it.
Why It Matters
Trump has long coveted Greenland, a vast, sparsely populated semiautonomous Danish territory rich in minerals and home to the U.S. space base at Pituffik. The base is the U.S. Department of Defense’s northernmost installation.
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Both the U.S. and Denmark are part of NATO, protected by the alliance's Article 5, which considers an attack on one to be an assault on all. For the U.S. to possibly turn its military on another NATO state would rip apart the alliance.
Talk of the U.S. seizing Greenland has intensified amid heightened rhetoric from Trump following a U.S. military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, and Trump's subsequent remarks that he would “run” the South American country.
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What To Know
Amid the years-long Cold War, the U.S. and Denmark signed a treaty regarding the defense of Greenland in April 1951, which was updated in 2004.
Article I of the agreement states that the governments will work together to “promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic Treaty area by uniting their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security and for the development of their collective capacity to resist armed attack.”
In Article II, the treaty notes that “the United States of America as a party to the North Atlantic Treaty may assist the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark by establishing and/or operating such defense areas.” Specifically, it allows the U.S. to “improve and generally to fit the area for military use,” as well as “construct, install, maintain, and operate facilities and equipment.”
Peter Harmsen, author of Greenland at War: The United States, Germany and the Struggle for the Arctic, 1939-45, told Newsweek that the U.S. has “broad authority” to build and operate military facilities on the island, due to the 1951 treaty, noting, “For Trump, it offers a legal route to expand America’s footprint without attempting to buy the island or seize it outright.”
Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher on Arctic identity, diplomacy and security at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Newsweek that the U.S. “can do what they want” on the base, noting that during the Cold War, the U.S. operated “numerous bases.”
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At the peak of the Cold War, the U.S. had dozens of bases in Greenland. Today, however, the base, first known as the Thule Air Base and renamed Pituffik in 2023, is the only standing one.
Gad noted that Greenland and Denmark have "consistently said that the U.S. would be welcome to do more again, but the U.S. never asked.”
While the treaty gives the U.S. more military power on the island, it’s not a “blank check,” Harmsen says, noting “any expansion must be justified as collective defense and approved by both Denmark and Greenland.” It also importantly does not grant political control.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, in her statements opposing Trump's rhetoric, has already flagged the longstanding defense agreement, noting that it “gives the United States wide access to Greenland.”
The Trump administration has repeated claims that the U.S. needs Greenland for “national security” reasons, and on Wednesday, Trump stated that if the U.S. does not, "Russia or China will, and that is not going to happen!"
What People Are Saying
Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on Capitol Hill: “Close ties with our northernmost allies are what make America's extensive reach in the Arctic actually possible. And I have yet to hear from this administration a single thing we need from Greenland that this sovereign people is not already willing to grant us. Unless and until the president can demonstrate otherwise, then the proposition at hand today is very straightforward: incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in U.S. access to the Arctic."
Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said Tuesday on X: "Trump doesn’t have a plan. He just wants to slap a giant American flag on Greenland and call it a legacy. I’m working with Democrats and Republicans to stop this bs."
Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's ambassador to the U.S., on January 3: “Just a friendly reminder about the US and the Kingdom of Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland’s and Denmark’s security. Greenland is already part of NATO. The Kingdom of Denmark and the United States work together to ensure security in the Arctic. The Kingdom of Denmark has significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts - in 2025 alone, we committed USD 13,7 bn that can be used in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Because we take our joint security seriously. And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
Elon Musk said in an X post on January 7: "If the people of Greenland want to be part of America, which I hope they do, they would be most welcome!"
What Happens Next
It is unclear what the Trump administration’s next move on Greenland may be, with officials saying that the use of U.S. military force is "always an option" to acquire the island.
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