{"id":681455,"date":"2026-01-08T04:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681455\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T04:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T04:42:11","slug":"what-are-trumps-real-options-for-gaining-control-of-greenland-greenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/681455\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Trump\u2019s real options for gaining control of Greenland? | Greenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration<\/a> has said repeatedly that the US needs to gain control of Greenland, a mineral-rich, largely self-governing part of Denmark with foreign and security policy run from Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

The White House has said<\/a> using the US military is \u201calways an option\u201d, but few analysts believe an armed operation is likely and France\u2019s foreign minister has said the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has ruled out the possibility of an invasion.<\/p>\n

Last weekend\u2019s events in Venezuela and Donald Trump\u2019s unpredictability mean nothing can ever really be excluded, however, and the US has other ways of fulfilling the president\u2019s territorial ambitions. Here are some of the options.<\/p>\n

Buy Greenland<\/p>\n

The US first floated the idea of making Copenhagen an offer for the Arctic island in 1867 after buying Alaska from Russia. It reconsidered the idea in 1910, and in 1917 it bought what are now the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25m (\u00a318.5m).<\/p>\n

As the cold war got under way, the Truman administration made a formal offer in 1946 \u2013 only made public in 1991 \u2013 of $100m for the island, arguing it was \u201ccompletely worthless to Denmark \u2026 and the control of Greenland is indispensable to the safety of the US\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"IsIs Greenland next for Donald Trump? | The Latest<\/p>\n

Copenhagen declined and since 2019, when Trump first expressed interest in the island, the Danish and Greenlandic governments have repeatedly said it is not for sale. Rubio, however, reportedly told members of Congress this week that the goal was to buy the territory.<\/p>\n

Legal and constitutional experts have noted that the era when countries could buy or barter others\u2019 territories \u2013 and their people \u2013 is long gone. The international legal principle of self-determination makes an outright sale more or less impossible.<\/p>\n

Under their 2009 self-rule law, Greenlanders can hold a referendum on independence. It is up to the island\u2019s 57,000 inhabitants to decide their future. A poll in January<\/a> found 85% did not want their homeland to become part of the US, with only 6% in favour.<\/p>\n

Woo Greenland<\/p>\n

Polls, not always reliable on such small numbers, suggest Greenlanders\u2019 feelings about Trump\u2019s promises to invest billions of dollars in the territory are less clearcut, with the population almost evenly divided between seeing them as a threat and as an opportunity.<\/p>\n

The first step, already under way, is a hearts-and-minds campaign, investing in the island\u2019s economic and educational development and intensifying diplomatic ties. The US consulate in Nuuk reopened in 2020 and a special envoy<\/a> to Greenland was named last month.<\/p>\n

Denmark also suspects Washington of more covert tactics, including an alleged influence campaign<\/a>. Copenhagen believes this is intended to encourage the island\u2019s growing independence movement, which is backed by a broad majority depending on the timescale. <\/strong><\/p>\n

With an independence referendum won and approved by the Danish parliament, the dealmaking could begin. On a visit to Nuuk in March, the US vice-president, JD Vance, said he hoped independent Greenlanders would \u201cchoose to partner with the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n

JD Vance on a visit to Greenland in March 2025. Photograph: Jim Watson\/AP<\/p>\n

Greenland\u2019s current four-party coalition government has strongly asserted that the island belongs to its people. <\/strong>Naleraq, the opposition party that came second in last year\u2019s election, is also in favour of independence but is more open to dialogue with the US.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s leader, Pele Broberg, has said he is not concerned by Trump\u2019s recent threats and is confident the US would protect Greenland as an independent nation. \u201cBesides, the US can\u2019t do anything to us that Denmark hasn\u2019t done already,\u201d he said this week.<\/p>\n

Sign a \u2018free association deal\u2019<\/p>\n

Officials in Washington have reportedly been working for months on a possible \u201ccompact of free association\u201d (Cofa) deal similar to the arrangement the US has with a number of small South Pacific nations, including the Marshall Islands.<\/p>\n

Under such a compact, the smaller country retains its independence and is guaranteed Washington\u2019s protection and a potentially lucrative duty-free trade deal, while the US military gets to operate more or less without restriction in a strategically important territory.<\/p>\n

Many analysts see this as perhaps the most plausible longer-term outcome, with Greenland\u2019s leaders \u2013 post-referendum \u2013 likely to see a Cofa or some other form of bilateral agreement as allowing them to combine independence with economic advantage.<\/p>\n

Rely on existing treaties <\/p>\n

One of the mysteries of the latest transatlantic tensions over Greenland is that the US already has wide military access and could easily have more. A 1951 US-Danish agreement allows it to \u201cconstruct, install, maintain and operate\u201d military bases across the territory.<\/p>\n

The treaty, which was updated in 2004 and includes Greenland\u2019s semi-autonomous government, also allows the US to \u201chouse personnel \u2026 and control landings, takeoffs, anchorages, moorings, movements and operation of ships, aircraft and waterborne craft\u201d.<\/p>\n

Copenhagen has repeatedly signalled its willingness to allow the US to significantly expand its military presence on Greenland, currently confined to the northern Pituffik space base, where about 500 personnel are reportedly stationed.<\/p>\n

The Pituffik space base. Photograph: Ritzau Scanpix\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Another agreement, signed in December 2023 and in force since last year, gives the US unhindered access<\/a> to Danish airbases and allows it to carry out military activities in and from Denmark.\u00a0The US has similar agreements with Sweden, Finland and Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Invade<\/p>\n

If all else fails, US analysts have suggested a military takeover would not in principle be difficult. Greenland has no territorial army, and the handful of ships and helicopters and lone plane operated by Denmark\u2019s joint Arctic command in Nuuk are for observation purposes.<\/p>\n

They argue that a US military presence on the island, potentially with the support of a few special forces, would theoretically be enough to capture Nuuk in a matter of minutes, and could simply declare Greenland US territory.<\/p>\n

In practice, however, Danish analysts say it would be anything but straightforward \u2013 particularly in Greenland\u2019s notoriously challenging weather conditions. And the fallout would be enormous.<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said this week<\/a> that a US attack on Greenland, which is covered by Denmark\u2019s Nato membership, would mean the end of the military alliance.<\/p>\n

It would also explode \u201cpost-second world war security\u201d, she said. Besides being entirely illegal, analysts also say a US military operation would instantly deprive Washington of its allies\u2019 trust and potentially vital intelligence.<\/p>\n

Jacob Kaarsbo, a former analyst at the Danish defence intelligence agency, said a US attack would face opposition. A \u201cquick and dirty job\u201d, seizing the control tower and strategic sites, might have been possible in 2025, he said, but Denmark has ramped up its presence.<\/p>\n

Winter weather would also make any operation very difficult, he said. \u201cI hope the Europeans can convince the US that we will indeed shoot back,\u201d he said. \u201cUS soldiers would come back to the US in body bags.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration has said repeatedly that the US needs to gain control of Greenland, a mineral-rich, largely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-681455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115857650208925951","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}