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  • Trump ties his stance on Greenland to not getting Nobel Peace Prize, European officials say

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    President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” two European officials said Monday.Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.”I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.Still, the American leader’s message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leaderAccording to two European officials, Trump’s message to Gahr Støre read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it had been forwarded to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. PBS first reported on the content of Trump’s note.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”The White House did not respond to questions about the message or the context for Trump sending it.Gahr Støre confirmed Monday that he had received a text message the day before from Trump but did not release its contents.The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”He told TV2 Norway that he hadn’t responded to the message, but “I still believe it’s wise to talk,” and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interestIn his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.___Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

    President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” two European officials said Monday.

    Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

    Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.

    “I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.

    Still, the American leader’s message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.

    In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.

    “We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

    Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

    “I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”

    Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leader

    According to two European officials, Trump’s message to Gahr Støre read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

    It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

    The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it had been forwarded to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. PBS first reported on the content of Trump’s note.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

    “I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”

    Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”

    The White House did not respond to questions about the message or the context for Trump sending it.

    Gahr Støre confirmed Monday that he had received a text message the day before from Trump but did not release its contents.

    The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

    “Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

    He told TV2 Norway that he hadn’t responded to the message, but “I still believe it’s wise to talk,” and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.

    The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

    Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

    Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interest

    In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

    European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

    Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.

    He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”

    Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.

    Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.

    “My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.

    Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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  • White House discussing ‘options’ to acquire Greenland, says military use isn’t off the table

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    The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “discussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland, making clear that using the U.S. military is not off the table.“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday statement to CNN.“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 statement comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this week that the Trump administration is considering buying Greenland as he downplayed concerns about U.S. military intervention in the short term, according to two sources familiar with the discussion.The administration’s aspirations related to the resource-rich, self-governing territory of Denmark had not been publicly mentioned in recent months, but officials were still discussing the matter behind the scenes.At the request of Rubio’s team, the State Department in recent months provided an analysis of the untapped resources in Greenland, including rare earths, according to a source familiar with the analysis. One conclusion was that there is no reliable study of how vast those resources may be. The assessment also said there would be tremendous cost in accessing the resources given the cold temperatures and lack of infrastructure, the source said.Trump has been leaning into a more expansionist foreign policy — including a renewed interest in acquiring the Danish territory — in the days since the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.Senior White House aide Stephen Miller doubled down on the position Monday, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that nobody would fight the U.S. militarily “over the future of Greenland” and questioning the right of Denmark — a fellow NATO nation — to claim the territory.The Trump administration’s renewed interest spurred a statement of support for Denmark from European leaders, who said Tuesday the Arctic island belongs to its people. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with NATO allies, including the United States.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday that Trump’s desires should be “taken seriously,” warning that a U.S. military attack on Greenland could effectively end NATO.Greenland said Tuesday it has asked for a meeting with Rubio following the Trump administration’s recent statements.Trump has long eyed Greenland, a resource-rich island of 836,000 square miles strategically located between the U.S., Europe and Russia. Its rich deposits of natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earth minerals, make it even more strategically important.Shortly after winning the 2024 election, Trump revived his first-term offer to purchase Greenland, which was again rebuffed. Nearly exactly a year ago, he held a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in which he did not rule out military action to take control of Greenland.During a speech to a joint session of Congress last March, Trump lobbed a threat at Greenland: “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”Later that month, Vice President JD Vance made a controversial visit to in Greenland, a trip its residents had resisted and its leaders said was unwelcome. “Our message to Denmark is very simple,” Vance said at the U.S.’ Pituffik Space Base. “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.”He repeatedly claimed the island was vulnerable and that the United States had “no other option” than to ramp up its presence there.The administration’s renewed Greenland focus has brought criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said he is introducing a resolution to prevent the US from invading Greenland. “Trump is telling us exactly what he wants to do. We must stop him before he invades another country on a whim,” Gallego said in a post on X.Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, has urged the administration to “stop the stupid ‘we want Greenland ’” and called on other Republicans to “universally oppose” any military action toward Greenland.“This is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. We have a base on Greenland. We could put four or five bases on Greenland; they wouldn’t mind that,” Bacon told CNN’s Tapper on “The Lead” on Tuesday.Referring to Denmark, Bacon added, “They are a proven ally, so the way we are treating them is really demeaning, and it has no upside.”Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, in a statement Tuesday reaffirmed the United States’ long-standing partnership with Denmark, an ally they said has “earned our unwavering respect.” They also highlighted how Denmark is “significantly increasing its defense spending and remains a critical partner in Arctic security.”“Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend,” the senators said.

    WASHINGTON —

    The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “discussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland, making clear that using the U.S. military is not off the table.

    “President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday statement to CNN.

    “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 statement comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this week that the Trump administration is considering buying Greenland as he downplayed concerns about U.S. military intervention in the short term, according to two sources familiar with the discussion.

    The administration’s aspirations related to the resource-rich, self-governing territory of Denmark had not been publicly mentioned in recent months, but officials were still discussing the matter behind the scenes.

    At the request of Rubio’s team, the State Department in recent months provided an analysis of the untapped resources in Greenland, including rare earths, according to a source familiar with the analysis. One conclusion was that there is no reliable study of how vast those resources may be. The assessment also said there would be tremendous cost in accessing the resources given the cold temperatures and lack of infrastructure, the source said.

    Trump has been leaning into a more expansionist foreign policy — including a renewed interest in acquiring the Danish territory — in the days since the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

    “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

    Senior White House aide Stephen Miller doubled down on the position Monday, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that nobody would fight the U.S. militarily “over the future of Greenland” and questioning the right of Denmark — a fellow NATO nation — to claim the territory.

    The Trump administration’s renewed interest spurred a statement of support for Denmark from European leaders, who said Tuesday the Arctic island belongs to its people. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with NATO allies, including the United States.

    Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday that Trump’s desires should be “taken seriously,” warning that a U.S. military attack on Greenland could effectively end NATO.

    Greenland said Tuesday it has asked for a meeting with Rubio following the Trump administration’s recent statements.

    Trump has long eyed Greenland, a resource-rich island of 836,000 square miles strategically located between the U.S., Europe and Russia. Its rich deposits of natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earth minerals, make it even more strategically important.

    Shortly after winning the 2024 election, Trump revived his first-term offer to purchase Greenland, which was again rebuffed. Nearly exactly a year ago, he held a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in which he did not rule out military action to take control of Greenland.

    During a speech to a joint session of Congress last March, Trump lobbed a threat at Greenland: “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”

    Later that month, Vice President JD Vance made a controversial visit to in Greenland, a trip its residents had resisted and its leaders said was unwelcome. “Our message to Denmark is very simple,” Vance said at the U.S.’ Pituffik Space Base. “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.”

    He repeatedly claimed the island was vulnerable and that the United States had “no other option” than to ramp up its presence there.

    The administration’s renewed Greenland focus has brought criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.

    Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said he is introducing a resolution to prevent the US from invading Greenland. “Trump is telling us exactly what he wants to do. We must stop him before he invades another country on a whim,” Gallego said in a post on X.

    Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, has urged the administration to “stop the stupid ‘we want Greenland [expletive]’” and called on other Republicans to “universally oppose” any military action toward Greenland.

    “This is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. We have a base on Greenland. We could put four or five bases on Greenland; they wouldn’t mind that,” Bacon told CNN’s Tapper on “The Lead” on Tuesday.

    Referring to Denmark, Bacon added, “They are a proven ally, so the way we are treating them is really demeaning, and it has no upside.”

    Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, in a statement Tuesday reaffirmed the United States’ long-standing partnership with Denmark, an ally they said has “earned our unwavering respect.” They also highlighted how Denmark is “significantly increasing its defense spending and remains a critical partner in Arctic security.”

    “Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend,” the senators said.

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  • Trump says the US ‘needs’ Greenland for Arctic security. Here’s why

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    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future. The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security: Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’ Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors. The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic. Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.” The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland. In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?

    Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

    Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.

    The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

    Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security:

    Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.

    Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.

    Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’


    Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.

    That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.

    Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors.

    The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

    Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.

    Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

    The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.

    Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.

    The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.

    In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

    Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”

    Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

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