U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to escalate his rhetoric about bringing Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and the world’s largest island, under U.S. control. Trump argues that Greenland’s natural resources and strategic location in the Arctic make it vital to U.S. national security interests. “If we don’t do it, Russia or China will,” Trump told reporters in January. The comments came ahead of a high-level White House meeting with Danish and Greenlandic officials, which ended in a political impasse.

Trump’s repeated remarks about acquiring the island—an interest that dates back to his first term—have been met with sharp pushback, with Greenland’s government rejecting a U.S. takeover under “any circumstances.” NATO allies have also warned that the use of U.S. military force to seize Greenland, which Trump has not ruled out, could threaten the decades-old transatlantic alliance. In response to Trump’s escalating rhetoric, Denmark announced it is increasing its military presence in and around Greenland, alongside several other European countries. Trump later threatened to impose fresh tariffs on some NATO trading partners for opposing U.S. control of the island.

U.S. forces currently operate a military base on Greenland, and the United States and Denmark are NATO allies with a long-running bilateral defense partnership that includes shared patrols around Greenland. In December 2025, Trump sparked fresh concern after he appointed a U.S. special envoy to Greenland, a move that signaled ongoing U.S. interest in the territory and that was widely criticized by Danish and Greenlandic officials.

What Is Greenland’s Status?
Greenland has been considered a Danish territory for more than three hundred years, but it wasn’t until 1979 that Denmark granted the sparsely populated island home rule. In 2009, Denmark passed the Act on Greenland Self-Government [PDF], significantly expanding the island’s authority over its domestic affairs, including the police, courts, and coast guard. Denmark still maintains control over Greenland’s foreign affairs, defense policy, and monetary policy, providing an annual subsidy of approximately $600 million.

As part of Denmark, which is a founding member of NATO, Greenland is covered under the transatlantic alliance’s security guarantees. However, Greenland is not a member of the European Union (EU) or the European Single Market, despite being considered an overseas country and territory associated with the EU. Greenland’s roughly fifty-seven thousand citizens, the majority Indigenous Inuit, are EU citizens as well as Danish nationals.