Seizing Greenland risks ‘monumental’ fallout, ex-Iceland president warns
(L/R) U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio leave the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus after a meeting with Danish Secretary of State Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Secretary of State Vivian Motzfeldt on January 14, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Iceland’s former President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said a US attempt to seize Greenland by force would trigger “tremendous consequences” for the Western alliance and global order, as President Donald Trump sharpened his rhetoric to control the Arctic region.
Grimsson warned on CNBC’s “Access Middle East” that “the impact will be on a scale we have never seen in living memory.” Grimsson, Iceland’s longest-serving president from 1996 to 2016, currently serves as Chairman of the Arctic Circle, the world’s largest annual meeting on Arctic affairs.
Trump said that China and Russia are strengthening their presence in the region, and cited Greenland, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark, as the center of US national security.
A meeting at the White House on Wednesday between officials from Greenland, Denmark and the United States resulted in a “fundamental disagreement” over ownership of the island and that both sides would continue to talk, a Danish official said after the meeting.
Trump doubled down on his rhetoric on Greenland ahead of the talks, saying on social media that anything less than Greenland being part of the United States was “unacceptable.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen made clear on Tuesday that if the country had to make a choice, it would choose Denmark over the United States.
Grimsson noted that concerns about the increasing influence of Russia or China in the Arctic are exaggerated. “There is currently no direct, clear and distinct threat from Russia and China in the Arctic,” he said.
Grimsson said China’s most prominent role is in Russia’s Arctic, where it is involved in mining, exploration for energy resources and potentially military exercises. Beyond that – in Canada, the US and the Arctic – “China is not a major player” but Russia “is not there,” he added.
US should ‘start at home’ instead of ‘buying Greenland’
Grimsson also argued that if Trump’s goal is a stronger US posture in the Arctic, Washington should focus on domestic capacity. Trump said that the USA is “already an Arctic country” and pointed out that the Arctic region is larger than Texas.
He added that successive Trump administrations have left the United States behind its rivals by underinvesting in infrastructure such as icebreakers and ports in the Arctic. Grimsson pointed out that there is no major port in the US Arctic and said, “If you want a stronger presence in the Arctic, start from home.”
The Arctic leader stated that it is unclear what strategic or economic advantages Washington would gain from crossing Greenland, and noted that current regulations already give the United States a wide range of action.
“There are currently no impediments to increasing America’s security or business presence in Greenland,” he said. “Since we have not heard a more detailed explanation of this desire, it is very difficult to understand concretely what it is about.”
Instead, Grimsson suggested that Trump’s worldview, shaped by his background in real estate, might influence his obsession with territory. “He’s probably the first major global leader to put all of his education and thinking through the real estate business,” he said. “Real estate guys think in locations.”
Asked whether Trump could take Greenland by force, Grimsson said a military move was possible given the power imbalance and Greenland’s small population, but also warned that the political cost would be unprecedented.
“Yes, of course it is possible,” he said, but “the question is…what is he going to do with it other than put up the flag of the United States of America and get a foothold?”
