The future of Greenland has shot up the geopolitical agenda in just two weeks, with warnings of potential military action and talk of the alliance between the U.S. and Europe being in jeopardy.
This is how trans-Atlantic tensions over the issue reached a crisis point so quickly.
U.S. President Donald Trump has long argued the U.S. needs control of Greenland, saying in 2019 that his administration was interested in purchasing the territory because it was essential for U.S. national security — but conceded the idea was “not number one on the burner.”
Denmark, which is responsible for the island’s defense, dismissed the notion as “absurd” at the time. Trump canceled a planned visit to Copenhagen in response.
Trump reiterated his interest in Greenland in late 2024 as he prepared to return to the White House, saying on his TruthSocial platform that the U.S. feels “that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
