White House: Trump’s Greenland plans include possibility of military action

The White House said that President Donald Trump is “discussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland, making clear that using the U.S. military is not off the table.

“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”

The comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this week that the administration is considering buying Greenland, while downplaying short-term concerns about U.S. military intervention, according to two sources familiar with the discussion.

Officials said the administration has quietly continued discussions on the resource-rich, self-governing Danish territory, including an analysis of Greenland’s untapped resources such as rare earth minerals. The assessment reportedly noted that no reliable study exists on the scale of these resources and that extraction would be costly due to the harsh climate and lack of infrastructure.

Trump has reiterated Greenland’s strategic importance following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

Senior White House aide Stephen Miller also defended the position, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that nobody would fight the United States militarily “over the future of Greenland,” and questioned Denmark’s claim to the territory.

The renewed U.S. interest drew a response from European leaders, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark, who said Arctic security must be achieved collectively with NATO allies. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Trump’s ambitions should be “taken seriously,” warning that a U.S. military attack on Greenland could effectively end NATO.

Greenland has requested a meeting with Rubio following the administration’s statements.

Trump’s interest in Greenland, an island of 836,000 square miles rich in oil, gas and rare earth minerals, dates back to his first term, when he proposed buying the territory. He has not ruled out military action in pursuit of the island, despite criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said he plans to introduce a resolution to prevent the U.S. from invading Greenland. “Trump is telling us exactly what he wants to do. We must stop him before he invades another country on a whim,” Gallego said.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon urged the administration to abandon the Greenland push, calling it “stupid” and warning that U.S. threats could harm relations with a NATO ally.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, reaffirmed U.S. partnership with Denmark, saying any suggestion of coercion “undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev