Military vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo)
"We need Greenland from a national security situation. It's so strategic. Right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump said from Air Force One Sunday as he traveled back to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Trump initially said he did not want to discuss Greenland, and to instead focus questions on Venezuela, Russia or Ukraine before teasing that more would follow on Greenland in the coming months.
"We'll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days," he told the media.
Trump added that the U.S. needs to acquire "Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."
He continued that acquiring the territory would benefit both the U.S. and European Union from a security point of view.
"The European Union needs us to have it and they know that," the president said before moving on to other questions.
Greenland was a strategic outpost during the Cold War, sitting astride the shortest routes between North America and the Soviet Union across the Arctic. The U.S. expanded its presence at the airbase, now known as Pituffik Space Base, using it as a key location for early-warning radar and surveillance meant to detect incoming bombers and missiles.
U.S. interest in Greenland also would likely counter China’s growing Arctic ambitions and deny Beijing a foothold in the region. China published its first Arctic policy white paper in 2018, when it labeled itself a "near-Arctic state," while promoting a "Polar Silk Road" as part of its broader Belt and Road vision. Trump first publicly mentioned interest in Greenland in 2019.
President Donald Trump speaks during a breakfast with Senate and House Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
The amplified focus on the U.S. potentially acquiring has had a ripple effect in the administration and in Congress, with White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, for example, arguing that it was not breaking news that Trump has genuine interest in acquiring the territory.
"For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States," Miller said on CNN. "And so that‘s a conversation that we‘re going to have as a country. That‘s a process we‘re going to have as a community of nations."
CNN host Jake Tapper pressed Miller if he could confirm military force would not be used to seize Greenland, similar to in Venezuela.
TRUMP GREENLAND TAKEOVER WOULD END NATO, DENMARK ASSERTS
"It wouldn’t be military action against Greenland," he said. "Greenland has a population of 30,000 people, Jake. The real question is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?"
U.S. Vice President JD Vance poses with second lady Usha Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, his wife , former homeland security advisor, Julia Nesheiwat and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright as they tour the US military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on March 28, 2025. (Jim Watson/Pool via REUTERS)
Artic security must be "achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them," the top leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark said in a joint statement.
They added: "Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland."
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Tuesday that: "I'm not saying we're gonna go take over Greenland, I'm saying we gonna build up our military presence and we need to create a new relationship between the United States and Greenland to make sure our investment is secure."
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"If you want a bigger presence in Greenland militarily, which everybody seems to do, and you want it to be American, which I do, then you need to look at the relationship between us and Greenland before we spend a bunch of money and put our troops on the ground," he continued.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/from-caracas-nuuk-maduro-raid-sparks-fresh-trump-push-greenland