Trump threatens to use US military to seize Greenland as White House issues extraordinary statement revealing plans to take Danish territory
The Trump administration has threatened to use the US military to seize Greenland, calling it a ‘national security priority’.
Donald Trump and his top advisers are investigating plans to seize Danish territory, the White House announced Tuesday in an extraordinary new statement.
Options include purchasing the land or granting independence to the people of Greenland while assuming responsibility for defense. a senior administration official told Reuters.
The White House adds menacingly that ‘using the US military is always an option’ and warns that the problem ‘will not go away’.
Trump argued that the United States should control Greenland to ensure the security of NATO territory in the face of increasing threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.
A senior White House official wrote in response to questions from Reuters: ‘President Trump has made the well-known statement that acquiring Greenland is a US national security priority and is vital to deterring our adversaries in the Arctic region.
‘The President and his team are discussing a number of options to achieve this important ‘foreign policy objective’, and of course ‘using the US military’ is always an option available to the commander in chief.’
The latest revelation will horrify America’s NATO allies, who have rallied around Denmark in recent days as Trump reiterated threats to invade Greenland following the successful capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of House Republican Party (GOP) members at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 6.
Snow-covered buildings in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 7, 2025
Britain’s socialist Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier issued a joint statement with the leaders of Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain pledging to defend Greenland’s territorial integrity.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that efforts to seize the region by force would mean the end of the NATO military alliance.
The British Prime Minister and other leaders described America as an ‘important partner’, adding that the US and Denmark signed a defense agreement in 1951.
They said: ‘Greenland belongs to its people. ‘It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and they alone, to decide on matters affecting Denmark and Greenland.’
Europe’s collective support comes after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller cast doubt on the legitimacy of Denmark’s territorial claim on Greenland in an interview with CNN on Monday night.
He also said there was ‘no need’ to consider whether the US would launch a military operation to take over because ‘no one is going to fight the US militarily over the future of Greenland’.
Miller’s wife further ratcheted up tensions after Maduro’s capture by tweeting a map of Greenland covered in an American flag and captioning the post on X, “Soon.”
Katie Miller, wife of President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Steven Miller, sent X a map of Greenland covered in an American flag, just hours after the United States struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.
Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland last January
U.S. Army Green Berets are seen during Arctic Edge 24 in Greenland. The region is known for its undiscovered mineral wealth and the NATO alliance
US Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland, specifically the US military’s Pituffik Cosmodrome, last March
