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The White House said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump is discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including potentially using the U.S. military, in a revival of his ambition to control the strategic island despite European objections.
Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a U.S. national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” the White House said in a statement.
“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,” the White House said.
Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
Tillie Martinussen, a former Greenland lawmaker, says the continued talk from Trump and his administration about taking control is angering people living there.
“There’s a lot of anger here … all over Greenland, not just in the capital, but everywhere,” she told Britain’s Channel 4 News on Tuesday.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen has also signalled his displeasure with the pressure coming from Washington, while insisting on the need for good relations with the U.S.
“We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good co-operation,” he said Monday night.
WATCH | U.S. needs Greenland for national security purposes, White House says:
U.S. acquiring Greenland is a national security priority, White House says | Hanomansing Tonight
U.S. President Donald Trump has shown renewed interest in acquiring Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of the Danish commonwealth, spurring a statement of support for Denmark from Canada and European leaders. We break down the latest and speak to Greenlandic journalist Markus Valentin on local reactions to these statements.Trump undeterred by pushback
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind the Arctic territory on Tuesday, saying it belongs to its people.
“The future of Greenland and Denmark are decided solely by the people of Denmark,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday, standing next to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.
Carney also announced that Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will visit Greenland in February.
Trump has also spoken extensively about having Canada join the U.S. as the 51st state, though Canadian leaders have consistently shot down such talk.
WATCH | Carney on Greenland’s future:
Carney asked about U.S. threats to Greenland, what they mean for NATO
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about U.S. threats around Greenland on Tuesday, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview that a choice by the U.S. to use military force on another NATO country would mean ‘everything stops’ — including NATO and the postwar security offered by the transatlantic organization.
A U.S. military seizure of Greenland from Denmark, a longtime ally, would send shock waves through the NATO alliance and deepen the divide between Trump and European leaders.
The strong opposition has not deterred Trump from reviewing how to make Greenland a U.S. hub in an area where there is growing interest from Russia and China. Trump’s interest, initially voiced in 2019 during his first term in office, has been rekindled in recent days in the wake of the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Emboldened by Maduro’s capture last weekend, Trump has voiced his belief that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” and put pressure on both Colombia and Cuba.
He has also started talking about Greenland again after months of having put it on the back burner.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Trump and his advisers are discussing a variety of ways to acquire Greenland.
Those options include the outright U.S. purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the territory. Such agreements with the U.S. provide the nations that make them with financial assistance and defence of their territorial integrity. A COFA deal with Greenland would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the U.S.
The U.S. currently has COFA agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.
A photo taken in September 2025 shows a view of a group of traditional Greenlandic houses, illuminated by a beam of sunlight, in Nuuk, Greenland. (Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images)Diplomacy is ‘first option’: official
The official did not provide a potential purchase price.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that recent administration threats against Greenland did not signal an imminent invasion and that the goal is to buy the island from Denmark during a classified briefing late on Monday for congressional leaders, two sources familiar with the briefing said.
Rubio’s comment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Members of Congress, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, pushed back against the administration’s comments on Greenland, noting that NATO member Denmark has been a loyal U.S. ally.
“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honour its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, the co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a statement.
U.S. Representative Don Bacon, a Republican, called on the Trump administration to stop openly coveting Greenland.
“The way we are treating them is really demeaning, and it has no upside,” Bacon told CNN.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the U.S. due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labour shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about Trump’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.