US President Donald Trump has intensified his threats toward Denmark, declaring that the United States must take control of Greenland to prevent Russia or China from gaining a foothold on the strategically located Arctic Island.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday during a meeting with oil industry executives, Trump said Washington would act regardless of Danish or Greenlandic opposition.
“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said. “Because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” dw.com reports.
The president added that while he preferred a negotiated solution, the United States was prepared to use force if necessary. “I would like to make a deal, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” he said.
Trump has previously refused to rule out military action to seize the vast, ice-covered island, which is home to around 57,000 people and remains an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty.
When reminded that the United States already leases military bases in Greenland with the right to deploy troops, Trump dismissed the arrangement, saying: “You defend ownership. You don’t defend leases. And we’ll have to defend Greenland. If we don’t do it, China or Russia will.”
The comments drew swift rejection from Greenland’s political leadership. All five parties in the Inatsisartut, Greenland’s parliament, issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s remarks and reaffirming their right to self-determination.
“We do not want to be Americans. We do not want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders,” the statement said. It called on Washington to end what it described as “disdain for our country” and stressed that Greenland’s future must be decided by its own people.
Protests were also reported in Nuuk, where demonstrators gathered outside the US consulate under the slogan “Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying Greenland, and his administration has previously floated the idea of offering financial incentives to encourage Greenlanders to break away from Denmark and join the United States. Denmark has firmly rejected all such proposals, warning that any military action would effectively end the NATO alliance.
European leaders have reacted with growing concern. Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and Denmark issued a joint statement earlier this week affirming that only Denmark and Greenland have the right to determine the island’s future.
The escalation comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions, with Washington increasingly framing global competition with China and Russia in strategic and military terms.
