Stephen Miller ramps up Trump threats to take over Greenland | Greenland
A top aide to Donald Trump has increased pressure on Denmark by questioning Copenhagen’s claim to Greenland.
Stephen Miller, the US president’s deputy chief of staff for policy, also claimed that there would be no need for military intervention to seize the Arctic region because “no one is going to fight the US militarily over the future of Greenland.”
Miller’s comments come amid rising tensions between the United States and Denmark and Greenland following new calls by the US president to take over Greenland following the impeachment of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Denmark’s foreign policy committee has called an extraordinary meeting of the Danish parliament on Tuesday night, attended by foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen, to discuss the Danish kingdom’s relations with the United States.
Miller told CNN in the interview that military intervention would not be necessary for the United States to gain control over Greenland due to its small population.
He also argued that Denmark had no right to the Arctic region, which was a former Danish colony and remained part of the Danish kingdom. Copenhagen continues to control Greenland’s foreign and security policy.
When asked whether military action against Greenland was out of the question, he incorrectly stated that Greenland’s population was 30,000, although it was 57,000: “What does military action against Greenland mean? Greenland’s population is 30,000.”
“The question is, what right does Denmark have to have control over Greenland? What is the basis for its territorial claims? What is the basis for Greenland being a colony of Denmark?”
He added: “The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, Greenland must of course be part of the United States. So this is a conversation we will have as a country. This is a process we will go through as a community of nations.”
A military operation in Greenland “does not even need to be considered or talked about,” he said, adding: “No one is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland. It makes no sense.”
Trump’s comments came after Trump said over the weekend that the US needed Greenland “badly”, fresh off a military operation in Venezuela.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, responded Monday by saying a U.S. attack on a NATO ally would mean the end of both the military alliance and “post-World War II security.” He warned that this would mark the end of “everything”.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also made a strong statement, calling on Trump to abandon his “annexation fantasies” and accusing the United States of “completely and completely unacceptable” rhetoric. “Enough is enough,” he said.
Miller’s comments about Greenland came after his wife, right-wing podcaster Katie Miller, posted an X map of Greenland covered in a US flag with the caption “COMING SOON” hours after the military operation in Venezuela.
When asked about his wife’s social media post, he laughed and said: “The official position of the US government since the beginning of this administration, frankly going back to the previous Trump administration, has been that Greenland should be part of the US. The President has been very clear on that.”
Inuit people B.C. It is understood that he lived in Greenland since 2500 BC. Modern colonization began in 1721, when Hans Egede took action with the support of then-Denmark-Norway. It remained a colony until 1953, when it became part of the kingdom of Denmark. During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Germany, while Greenland was occupied by the United States and returned to Denmark in 1945. The USA has had an important military base in Greenland since the Cold War, in Pituffik (formerly Thule), for its ballistic missile early warning system.
Support for Greenlandic independence has been growing in recent years, particularly after revelations about Denmark’s treatment of the Greenlandic people during and after colonial rule – including the IUD scandal.
But amid the specter of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March formed a new four-party coalition government in a display of national unity, with the first page of the coalition agreement stating “Greenland belongs to us.”
