Using U.S. military to annex Greenland on the table, says White House
The White House said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is weighing a range of options to obtain Greenland, including the possible use of the U.S. military, describing control of the Arctic country as a national security priority.
“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 press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to The Hill.
“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,” she said.
The statement represents the clearest acknowledgment so far from the Trump administration that military force has not been ruled out as Washington intensifies pressure over the future of Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark but governs its own domestic affairs.
The comments followed reporting by the Wall Street Journal that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told U.S. lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Trump’s preferred outcome remains the purchase of Greenland from Denmark. However, Leavitt’s remarks indicate that the administration is considering broader measures as part of what it describes as an urgent security challenge in the Arctic.
Trump has repeatedly argued that Denmark is incapable of guaranteeing Greenland’s security and has framed U.S. control of the country as essential to countering Russian and Chinese activity in the region, without pointing to any specific acts to support those claims. Under a 1951 defence agreement with Denmark, the United States already has the right to deploy forces and military assets across Greenland, giving Washington access to the capabilities it says it needs to deter adversaries in the Arctic.
The statement by Leavitt comes a day after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller dismissed the idea that any country would militarily oppose US efforts to assert control over Greenland.
The messaging from Washington has triggered concern among European allies, who have warned that any attempt to seize Greenland would violate international law and potentially be the end of NATO.
The latest rhetorical ramp-up by the Trump administration has triggered an unusually forceful response from Europe’s leading powers. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom and Denmark issued a joint statement reaffirming that Greenland belongs to its people and that only Denmark and Greenland can decide the country’s future.
The White House has not provided further details on what specific options are under consideration or what timeline the administration is working toward.
