After being relatively quiet on the issue for months, President Donald Trump is once again making bold statements that the United States should control Greenland.
The U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday, adding the nation “is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building.”
In May, Trump had announced plans for a U.S. “Golden Dome” to block missile attacks. Greenland, the world’s largest island, straddles the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, providing a strategic location between the U.S. and Russia.
“NATO should be leading the way for us to get it,” Trump said of Greenland. “IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
Greenland is an autonomous authority within the Kingdom of Denmark, which is a founding NATO member.
“Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent – Not even close! They know that, and so do I,” Trump said.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump said, adding, “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Demark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Sunday that Denmark faces a “fateful moment.”
“What is at stake is bigger than what the eye can see, because if what we experience from the Americans is that they are actually turning their backs on the western alliance, that they are turning their backs on our NATO cooperation by threatening an ally, which we have not experienced before, then everything will stop,” Frederiksen said.
Trump first began suggesting the U.S. should own Greenland at the start of his term last year.
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Greenland in March and visited the Pituffik Space Base, a U.S. military instillation.
In early January, Trump said Greenland is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” warning that Denmark won’t be able to defend Greenland from Russia and China.
Danish officials have pushed back on Trump’s claims of a heavy Russian and Chinese presence around Greenland, which spans over 800,000 square miles, Just the News reports.
Denmark’s own 2025 Intelligence Outlook report finds that “Russia, China and the United States have diverging interests in the Arctic, but all three countries seek to play a greater role in the region,” Just the News reported.
Still, as recently as this week, Danish officials continue to argue that Russia and China do not pose a significant threat to Greenland.
“I am head of the defense committee in Denmark. It is my job to be on top of security in Greenland and I get all relevant information about it,” Rasmus Jarlov, a member of Danish Parliament, wrote on X Sunday.
Jarlov argues that “fantasies about a big threat from China and Russia against Greenland are delusional.”
