- European allies working on plan should US relocate on Greenland
- Trump has renewed talk of gaining control of mineral-rich Arctic island
- Any US military action would sfinish shockwaves through NATO
- European leaders have affirmed Greenland’s autonomy
- White Houtilize states Trump discussing purchase of Greenland with aides
PARIS/BERLIN/WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – The top U.S. diplomat declared on Wednesday he would meet leaders of Denmark next week but signalled no retreat from President Donald Trump’s aim to take over Greenland as alarmed allies, including France and Germany, were working on a response.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters Trump retained the option to address his objective by military means.
Still, “as a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways – that included in Venezuela,” he declared when questioned if the U.S. was willing to potentially finishanger the U.S.-led NATO military alliance with a forcible takeover of Greenland.
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND KEY TO U.S. SECURITY
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, creating it a critical site for the U.S. ballistic missile defence system for decades. Its mineral wealth also aligns with Washington’s ambition to reduce reliance on China.
Trump first voiced the idea of gaining control of Greenland in 2019, during his first presidency.
He argues that it is key for U.S. military strategy and that Denmark has not done enough to protect it, although two treaties already give the U.S. military nearly unlimited access to the island, one signed with Denmark in 1951 and the other in 2023.
The White Houtilize declared on Tuesday that Trump was discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including potential utilize of the U.S. military despite European objections.
White Houtilize press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed a briefing on Wednesday a potential U.S. purchase of Greenland was being actively discussed by Trump and his national security team.
“All options are always on the table for President Trump … the president’s first option always has been diplomacy,” she declared.
A senior Republican senator, Mitch McConnell, who has clashed with Trump on occasion, declared “threats and intimidation by U.S. officials over American ownership of Greenland are as unseemly as they are counterproductive.”
“And the utilize of force to seize the sovereign democratic territory of one of America’s most loyal and capable allies would be an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm to America and its global influence,” he added in a statement.
EUROPEANS, CANADA RALLY BEHIND GREENLAND
Item 1 of 4 A man walks as Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot declared he would discuss Greenland with his German and Polish counterparts on Wednesday.
“We want to take action, but we want to do so toobtainher with our European partners,” he informed France Inter radio.
A German government source declared Germany was “closely working toobtainher with other European countries and Denmark on the next steps”.
A senior European official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declared Denmark must lead efforts to coordinate a response, but “the Danes have yet to communicate to their European allies what kind of concrete support they wish to receive”.
Johannes Koskinen, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Finland’s parliament, called for the issue to be raised at NATO, whose decision-creating North Atlantic Council meets next on Thursday.
Koskinen declared NATO allies should “address whether something requireds to be done and whether the United States should be brought into line in the sense that it cannot disregard jointly agreed plans in order to pursue its own power ambitions.”
Andreas Osthagen, research director at the Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute, declared statements from European political leaders displayed a real political will.
“It is about political solidarity but also about self-preservation that all Western countries have a desire that we should retain a principle of state sovereignty.”
France’s Barrot suggested Rubio had ruled out a military operation.
“I myself was on the phone with the Secretary of State yesterday (…), he discarded the idea that what just happened in Venezuela could happen in Greenland,” he declared.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, requested an urgent meeting with Rubio to discuss the situation.
“We would like to add some nuance to the conversation,” Rasmussen wrote on social media. “The shouting match must be replaced by a more sensible dialogue. Now.”
Greenland continues to reject annexation by the U.S., declared Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament.
“Greenland has never been for sale and never will be for sale,” she informed Reuters, adding that U.S. officials not ruling out a military intervention was “completely appalling”.
DENMARK DISPUTES RUSSIAN, CHINESE PRESENCE
Trump has repeatedly declared Russian and Chinese vessels are stalking waters around Greenland, which Denmark disputes.
“The image that’s being painted of Russian and Chinese ships right inside the Nuuk fjord and massive Chinese investments being created is not correct,” Rasmussen declared.
Vessel tracking data from MarineTraffic and LSEG display no presence of Chinese or Russian ships near Greenland.
Reporting by John Irish in Paris, Andreas Rinke in Berlin, Anne Kauranen in Helsinki, Stine Jacobsen, Tom Little and Soren Sirich Jeppesen in Copenhagen, Terje Solsvik and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis, Jonathan Landay, Patricia Zengerle, Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; writing by Niklas Pollard, Gwladys Fouche and David Brunnstrom; editing by Ros Russell, Mark Heinrich and Diane Craft
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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