Trump Is Now Threatening To Annex Greenland For "National Security" And Denmark Warned It Would End NATO
Greenland prime minister said Trump’s threats were“utterly unacceptable,” adding that linking the situation in Venezuela with that of Greenland was “wrong” and “disrespectful.”
US president Donald Trump is now threatening to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, with Denmark warning that it would be the end of NATO.
Greenland hosts a US military base for missile defense and offers a key position in naval corridors linking the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
There is currently limited navigation due to ice covering it, but with climate change melting the ice, it could become a key territory for monitoring maritime routes and missile threats, according to the New York Times.
Greenland also has huge stores of rare-earth minerals used for making batteries, cellphones, electric vehicles and other high-tech items.
On Sunday, Jan. 4, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he wanted to annex Greenland not for minerals but that the US needs Greenland “from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
“You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security on Greenland?” Trump joked. “They added one more dog sled.”
Trump’s remarks was perceived as a threat as they came one day after US forces carried out a “large-scale strike” across Caracas and captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who were flown out of the country to face trial in New York on several criminal charges, including narco-terrorism, cocaine importation and possession of weapons.
In response, Denmark's prime minister Mette Frederiksen issued a statement on Sunday warning Trump to “stop his threats.”
“I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Frederiksen wrote in a statement on a Danish government website. “The United States has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Commonwealth.”
Frederiksen then said in an interview on Monday, Jan. 5, that Trump “should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” adding that it could lead to the end of NATO.
“If the United States were to choose to attack another NATO country, then everything would come to an end,” Frederiksen said, adding, “The international community as we know it, democratic rules of the game, NATO, the world’s strongest defensive alliance — all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another.”
Greenland prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also said Trump’s threats were“utterly unacceptable,” adding that linking the situation in Venezuela with that of Greenland was “wrong” and “disrespectful.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to annex Greenland.
In 2019, during his first presidency, Trump had said US control of Greenland was necessary for national security, as it hosts a large US military base.
After assuming office in 2025, Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland, with Frederiksen responding that "Greenland is not for sale."
Isha Jain
Sofia Hou
Kassy Cho
