The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “discussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland, making clear that using the US 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 Tuesday statement to CNN.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”
Trump has been leaning into a more expansionist foreign policy — including a renewed interest in acquiring the Danish territory — in the days since the US 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 doubled down on the position Monday, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that nobody would fight the US militarily “over the future of Greenland” and questioning the right of Denmark — a fellow NATO nation — to claim the territory.
The Trump administration’s renewed interest spurred a statement of support for Denmark from European leaders, who said Tuesday the Arctic island belongs to its people. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with NATO allies, including the United States.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday that Trump’s desires should be “taken seriously,” warning that a US military attack on Greenland could effectively end NATO.
Greenland said Tuesday it has asked for a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio following the Trump administration’s recent statements.
Trump has long eyed Greenland, a resource-rich island of 836,000 square miles strategically located between the US, Europe and Russia. Its rich deposits of natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earth minerals, make it even more strategically important.
Shortly after winning the 2024 election, Trump revived his first-term offer to purchase Greenland, which was again rebuffed. Nearly exactly a year ago, he held a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in which he did not rule out military action to take control of Greenland.
During a speech to a joint session of Congress early last year, Trump lobbed a threat at Greenland: “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
The administration’s Greenland focus has brought criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said he is introducing a resolution to prevent the US 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 in a post on X.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, has urged the administration to “stop the stupid ‘we want Greenland BS’” and called on other Republicans to “universally oppose” any military action toward Greenland.
“This is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. We have a base on Greenland. We could put four or five bases on Greenland; they wouldn’t mind that,” Bacon told CNN’s Tapper on “The Lead” on Tuesday.
Referring to Denmark, Bacon added, “They are a proven ally, so the way we are treating them is really demeaning, and it has no upside.”
This story has been updated with additional information.