Donald Trump and his advisers are considering options regarding Greenland. In a White House statement on Tuesday, officials said the president is reviewing several approaches to acquire the Arctic territory, and that the use of the US military always remains a possibility.
Trump admin on Greenland: ‘Military is always an option’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has long made it clear that Greenland is a national security priority for the United States. She said the Arctic region is becoming more important as global tensions rise, and that the president believes securing Greenland would help protect American interests. “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal,” Leavitt said, adding that “military is always an option” within the president’s powers as commander-in-chief.
On the other hand, according to a WSJ report, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has tried to calm fears that America is preparing to invade Greenland. Speaking behind closed doors to lawmakers on Monday, Rubio, according to WSJ, said the administration’s goal is not military action but buying the island from Denmark, according to people familiar with the briefing.
Rubio’s comments were made during a classified briefing that also included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine. The issue of Greenland came up after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked whether the administration was considering military force in other places, including Mexico and Greenland.
Europe grows uneasy after recent US military actions
Leaders of several major European countries, including France, Germany and Britain, stood firmly with Denmark, which controls Greenland as part of its kingdom. In a joint statement issued on Tuesday along with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, European leaders said sovereignty must be respected. They reminded Washington that Arctic security is already a top priority for NATO. “Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said, according to the Guardian. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen urged Trump to abandon his “fantasies about annexation” and said the rhetoric coming from Washington was “completely and utterly unacceptable”. “Enough is enough,” Nielsen said.
Denmark calls emergency meetings
Earlier, Greenland’s government requested an urgent meeting with the US State Department. Greenland’s foreign affairs minister, Vivian Motzfeldt and Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, are seeking talks with Rubio to address Washington’s “claims about our country”.
“We do not share this image that Greenland is plastered with Chinese investments,” Rasmussen said, adding that there are no Chinese warships roaming Greenland’s coastline. Greenland is located between the United States and Russia and is often considered a strategically vital point. At the same time, countries are competing for control and influence in the Arctic region, so having Greenland gives a big advantage.
