Denmark and Greenland began the year by rejecting any suggestion of US control over Greenland, stating that the island’s sovereignty remains absolute, despite comments by Donald Trump that referenced a proposed Arctic security framework with NATO.
Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a televised address January 5 condemned what she called threats, pressure and condescending speech “from our closest ally for generations.” She criticized talk of “wanting to take over another country, another people, as if it were something you could buy and own.” Frederiksen called the behavior “entirely unacceptable,” and reaffirmed Denmark’s sovereignty and commitment to international norms.
She added: “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stop, including our NATO, and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen echoed these sentiments on Thursday, emphasizing that only Greenland and Denmark hold the authority to make decisions concerning the island. Nielsen noted what he called Greenlanders’ “red lines”: respecting territorial integrity, upholding sovereignty, following international law, and ensuring mutual respect in decision-making. He rejected any notion that Greenland could be “owned” by another country, and stressed the need for respectful dialogue and consideration of each party’s intentions.
Since 2019, during his first term, and increasingly since his second-term election, Trump has repeatedly stated that the US should control Greenland. Trump has justified this demand on national security grounds. Trump repeated these claims at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, while for the first time denying that he would use force. He called Denmark “ungrateful” and said it owed the US for its defense during the Second World War. He said US control would allow development that would benefit both Europe and the US, and claimed no other country could secure the territory.
Trump supposedly worked out a deal for some kind of control over Greenland with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the Davos summit—but no details have been provided, and NATO of course has no authority over the island. In a Fox Business interview on Thursday, Trump said the US would have “all the military access we want” in Greenland—which leaves unclear what, if anything, would change, as Denmark has never restricted US military access to Greenland.
Several European leaders at Davos responded angrily to Trump’s demands, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who called his plans a form of colonialism and said Europe will not “passively accept the law of the strongest.”
Greenland occupies a strategic position in the Arctic, close to the North American mainland and between major oceans, making it a strategic outpost for defense, surveillance, and military operations. The island sits along key Arctic and trans-Atlantic routes, and already hosts US. military infrastructure.
Greenland also contains substantial mineral and rare earth deposits—critical materials used in batteries, electronics, and defense technologies. Climate change has further raised Greenland’s geopolitical profile. Melting Arctic ice has opened new shipping routes and improved access to the region, thereby shortening trade corridors and intensifying competition among major powers operating there.
