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LAST UPDATE | 19 hrs ago
DONALD TRUMP AND his team are discussing “a range of options” to acquire Greenland, including using the US military, according to the White House.
In a statement, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “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.
The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal.
It comes after the governments of Greenland and Denmark requested a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the US President’s latest threats to annex the autonomous Danish territory.
Trump’s military intervention in Venezuela, which involved kidnapping the country’s authoritarian leader and his wife, has reignited fears for Greenland.
Denmark and Greenland have asked to meet Marco Rubio quickly to “discuss the significant statement made by the United States about Greenland”, Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt wrote on social media.
“It has so far not been possible for US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with the Greenlandic government, despite the fact that the Greenlandic and Danish governments have requested a meeting at the ministerial level throughout 2025,” she added.
Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said meeting Rubio should resolve “certain misunderstandings.”
Earlier today, European leaders voiced support for the autonomous Danish territory in a joint statement today, stating that it “belongs to its people” and that any decisions on its future needed to be decided by them.
They also stressed that they have been “stepping up” security in the wider Arctic region, likely in response to Trump’s allegations in recent days that “Chinese and Russian ships” circled Greenland’s waters. (Although it mentions the US, it doesn’t namecheck Trump himself.)
In the joint statement, France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Poland said Greenland is part of the Danish kingdom and that it was for “only” Greenland and Denmark to decide what happens to its ownership.
They added that Arctic security “remains a key priority” for Europe, saying they have “increased our presence, activities and investments” to keep the region secure for western allies.
“Nato has made clear that Arctic region is a priority and European allies are stepping up,” the statement said.
Joint Statement on Greenlandhttps://t.co/ORMWHpKEJt pic.twitter.com/wu1SdF1INN
— Statsministeriet (@Statsmin) January 6, 2026
They added that security in the region must be achieved “collectively”, highlighting that this needs to be done in conjunction with the US.
This would include upholding principles of the UN Charter, including the integrity of a country or territory’s borders.
“These are universal principles and we will not stop depending them,” the leaders added.
Later, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “I cannot imagine a scenario in which the United States of America would be placed in a position to violate Danish sovereignty.”
He added:
Greenland is a territory under Danish sovereignty, and it will remain so.
Earlier, Denmark’s prime minister warned that if the US attacks Greenland, it would mean the end of Nato, Denmark’s prime minister has said in response to the latest threats of annexation from President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the TV2 network: “If the United States decides to military attack another NATO country, then everything would stop. That includes Nato and therefore post-World War II security.”
The semi-autonomous Danish territory has untapped rare earth deposits and could be a vital player as polar ice melts, opening up new shipping routes. However, the extraction of those minerals is prohibited in Greenland.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” the US leader said Sunday.
Copenhagen has invested heavily in security, allocating some 90 billion kroner (€12 billion) in the last year.
Greenland is on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States, and Washington already has a military base there.
With the situation in Venezuela more pressing, “we’ll worry about Greenland in about two months,” Trump quipped on Sunday.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Trump on social media: “That’s enough now. No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation.”
“We are open to dialogue,” he said. “But this must happen through the proper channels and with respect for international law.”
Yesterday, he called for renewed contact with the US and urged against panic.
“The situation is not such that the United States can conquer Greenland. That is not the case. Therefore, we must not panic. We must restore the good cooperation we once had,” Nielsen said in Nuuk.
Seeking to cast Greenland as a vital geopolitical asset for the US, Trump claimed in December that Russian and Chinese ships were “all over” the territory’s coast.
The foreign ministry in Beijing hit back yesterday, urging Washington to “stop using the so-called China threat as an excuse to seek personal gain”.
Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish parliament, accused Trump of “spreading lies about Chinese and Russian warships”.
“The people of Greenland should go into preparation mode,” she told the AFP news agency, adding that Greenlanders needed to start taking Trump much more seriously.
On the streets of Copenhagen, people expressed bewilderment at Trump’s threats.
“I think it’s a little crazy that he can say those things,” said Frederik Olsen, 56.
“He has all the access he wants for the troops,” said Christian Harpsoe, 46. “I see no need. You cannot compare this to Venezuela.”
SOON pic.twitter.com/XU6VmZxph3
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) January 3, 2026
The latest flare-up came after former Trump aide Katie Miller, who is the wife of his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted an online image on Saturday of Greenland in the colours of the US flag with the caption “SOON”.
Nielsen labelled the post “disrespectful”. Denmark’s Frederiksen on Sunday called on Washington to stop “threatening its historical ally” and said US claims on Greenland were “absurd”.
Asked by CNN on Monday if the United States would rule out military intervention in Greenland, Stephen Miller questioned what the “basis” is of “having Greenland as a colony of Denmark”.
“The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There’s no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you’re asking, of a military operation,” he said in the televised interview.
“Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland!”
With reporting from AFP, Jane Moore and Eoghan Dalton
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