"During Trump's second term, those offers have turned to threats. Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social in late December 2024 that, for purposes of national security, U.S. control over Greenland was a necessity. The president has continued to insist on the national security rationale into January 2026. And he has refused to rule out the use of military force to control Greenland."
"From my perspective as an international relations scholar focused on Europe, Trump's national security rationale doesn't make sense. Greenland, like the U.S., is a member of NATO, which provides a collective defense pact, meaning member nations will respond to an attack on any alliance member. And because of a 1951 defense agreement between the U.S. and Denmark, the U.S. can already build military installations in Greenland to protect the region."
Donald Trump sought to buy Greenland in 2019, and Danes and Greenlanders rebuffed the offer. In late December 2024 Trump stated on Truth Social that U.S. control over Greenland was a national security necessity, and he continued to assert that rationale into January 2026 while refusing to rule out military force. Greenland and the United States are NATO members, and a 1951 defense agreement with Denmark already permits U.S. military installations in Greenland. The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy emphasizes Western Hemisphere control and excluding China. The United States previously considered acquiring Greenland in 1867 when Secretary of State William Seward pushed to acquire Greenland and Iceland for $5.5 million (roughly $125 million today).
Read at Fast Company
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