President Donald Trump delivers a special address during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos Jan. 21, 2026. (Mandel Mgan/AFP Getty Images)
Greenland — the world’s largest island — sits in the Arctic and governs its own domestic affairs while remaining within the Kingdom of Denmark.
The president said he has "tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark," but that the U.S. must control the island from a national security standpoint.
"And the fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States, with a great power much greater than people even understand," he said.
The White House has reiterated that Trump views Greenland as a national security priority, and officials have not ruled out the use of the U.S. military as the administration weighs options for acquiring the territory.
Trump was asked Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, how far he would go to Greenland, responding with a terse. "you'll find out" response.
Residents in Greenland, the largest island in the world, have expressed concern about President Donald Trump's renewed interest in seizing the territory. (Julia Wäschenbach/picture alliance/Getty Images)
In more recent years, renewed U.S. interest has been tied to intensifying great-power competition in the Arctic. Officials and analysts have pointed to China’s effort to widen its regional footprint.
Trump first publicly raised the idea of acquiring Greenland in 2019. The Arctic’s geography makes it a key corridor for long-range threats from major adversaries, elevating Greenland’s value as a location for sensors and tracking systems intended to protect North America.
Trump put European allies on notice to reach a deal on the island by Feb. 1 or face consequences. Goods from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom will face a 10% tariff if no deal is reached by February, with the taxes increasing to 25% by June 1 if there is no deal.
resident Donald Trump and NATO leaders join King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, pose for a family photo as they participate in the 2025 NATO summit on June 24, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands. (Haiyun Jiang-Pool/Getty Images)
European leaders at Davos largely treated Trump’s Greenland-linked tariff threats as economic coercion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for example, said Greenland is "non-negotiable" and that the EU would show "full solidarity" with Greenland.
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"In politics as in business: a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something," von der Leyen added, referring to a trade deal the U.S. inked with the EU over the summer.
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