The White House says US President Donald Trump and his team are considering several options, including the use of the military, to “acquire” Greenland.
The status of the vast, mineral-rich island has drawn renewed attention after the Trump administration repeated its desire to control the territory, which has been part of the Danish realm for centuries.
Mr Trump has talked about taking Greenland since 2019, saying it was vital for the US military, and that Denmark had not done enough to protect it. He returned to the topic this week after the attack on Venezuela that led to the seizure of its leader, Nicolas Maduro.
“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.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”
Mr Trump's designs on Greenland have unnerved allies and western leaders are rallying behind the island.
“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” said a joint statement issued by the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark on Tuesday. Canada and the Netherlands also backed the statement.
The leaders said security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively with Nato allies, including the US.
Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told legislators a day earlier that the US goal is to buy Greenland and the new threats were designed to pressure Denmark into talks.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Monday dismissed concerns about Danish sovereignty.
“You can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else,” Mr Miller told CNN. “But we live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”
