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U.S. President Donald Trump is discussing options including subject enactment to instrumentality power of Greenland, the White House said Tuesday (January 6, 2026), upping tensions that Denmark warns could destruct the NATO alliance.
Mr. Trump has stepped up his designs connected the mineral-rich, self-governing Danish territory successful the arctic since the U.S. subject seized Venezuelan person Nicolas Maduro past weekend.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "acquiring Greenland is simply a nationalist information priority" for Mr. Trump to deter U.S. adversaries similar Russia and China.
"The President and his squad are discussing a scope of options to prosecute this important overseas argumentation goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. subject is ever an enactment astatine the commandant successful chief's disposal," she said successful a connection to AFP.
The Wall Street Journal reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Mr. Trump's preferred enactment is to bargain Greenland from Denmark, adding the threats did not awesome an imminent invasion.
Denmark has warned immoderate determination to instrumentality Greenland by unit would mean "everything would stop," including NATO and 80 years of adjacent transatlantic information links.
Any U.S. subject enactment against Greenland would efficaciously illness NATO, since the alliance's Article Five pledges that subordinate states volition support immoderate of their fig that travel nether attack.
Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt wrote connected societal media that they'd sought a gathering with Mr. Rubio passim 2025 but "it has truthful acold not been possible."
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said gathering Mr. Rubio should "clear up definite misunderstandings."
And Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen insisted that the land was not for sale, and lone its 57,000 radical should determine its future.
‘Not acceptable’
Allies person rallied astir Denmark and Greenland portion simultaneously trying not to antagonise Mr. Trump.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain joined Denmark successful a connection connected Tuesday (January 6, 2026) saying they would support the "universal principles" of "sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders."
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer some sought to play down the enactment arsenic they attended Ukraine bid talks successful Paris alongside Mr. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
"I cannot ideate a script successful which the United States of America would beryllium placed successful a presumption to interruption Danish sovereignty," Mr. Macron said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday (January 7, 2026) helium believed the U.S. was committed to NATO, but helium suggested European leaders were prepared to onslaught backmost against imaginable U.S. "intimidation."
The United States has 150 subject unit stationed astatine the Pituffik Space Base successful Greenland.
Greenland residents person rejected Mr. Trump's threats.
"This is not thing we appreciate," Christian Keldsen, manager of the Greenland Business Association, told AFP successful the superior Nuuk. "It is not acceptable successful the civilized world."
Mr. Trump has been floating the thought of annexing Greenland since his archetypal term. In the past year, Copenhagen has invested heavy successful security, allocating immoderate 90 cardinal kroner ($14 billion).
Big and strong
Still steaming implicit Mr. Trump's seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, U.S. legislators spoke retired against the thought of subject enactment against Greenland connected Tuesday (January 7, 2026).
In societal media posts, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, vowed to present a solution "to artifact Trump from invading Greenland," saying the 79-year-old Republican simply "wants a elephantine land with his sanction connected it. He wouldn't deliberation doubly astir putting our troops successful information if it makes him consciousness large and strong."
In a crisp departure from the party's emblematic partisanship, Republicans besides pushed backmost against Mr. Trump's military-backed expansionism.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told reporters Tuesday (January 6, 2026) nighttime that helium didn't deliberation it was "appropriate" for Washington to instrumentality subject enactment connected Greenland, Politico reported.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of the midwestern authorities of Kansas, who serves connected the Senate Intelligence Committee, told HuffPost "it's nary of our business" and warned that the determination would pb to "the demise of NATO."
Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon enactment it adjacent much bluntly successful a station connected X: "This is truly dumb. Greenland and Denmark are our allies."
