The military ‘remains an option’ to achieve Trump’s goal of controlling Greenland, the White House said
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The White House said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump is discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including using the US military, in renewing his desire to control the strategic island despite European opposition.
Trump sees finding Greenland as a top US national security priority to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” the White House said in a statement.
“The president and his team are discussing a number of ways to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, using the US military is always an option for the commander-in-chief,” the White House said.
Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
Tillie Martinussen, a former lawyer for Greenland, says the constant rhetoric from Trump and his administration about regulation is angering the people who live there.
“There is a lot of anger here … all over Greenland, not just in the capital, but everywhere,” he told Britain’s Channel 4 News on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump has shown a renewed interest in acquiring Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of the Danish commonwealth, prompting a statement of support for Denmark from Canada and European leaders. We analyze the latest and talk to Greenland journalist Markus Valentin about the local reaction to these statements.
Trump was not deterred by the pushback
Leaders from major European countries and Canada rallied behind the Arctic region on Tuesday, claiming it belongs to its people.
“The future of Greenland and Denmark is decided only by the people of Denmark,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, standing next to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.
Carney also announced that Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Foreign Minister Anita Anand will visit Greenland in February.
Trump also talked a lot about Canada joining the US as the 51st state, although Canadian leaders have shot down the talk.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about US threats around Greenland on Tuesday, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a debate that the US choice to deploy troops in another NATO country would mean ‘everything stops’ – including NATO and post-war security provided by the transatlantic alliance.
The seizure of US troops in Greenland by Denmark, a longtime ally, will send shock waves through the NATO alliance and deepen the rift between Trump and European leaders.
Strong opposition did not stop Trump from revising the way to make Greenland a US center in an area where there is growing interest from Russia and China. Trump’s interest, first expressed in 2019 during his first term in office, has been renewed in recent days after the US capture of the President of Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro.
Emboldened by Maduro’s capture last weekend, Trump expressed his belief that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned,” and put pressure on both Colombia and Cuba.
He has started talking about Greenland again after months of putting it on the stove.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal negotiations, said Trump and his advisers were discussing various ways to acquire Greenland.
Those options include buying Greenland from the US outright or forming a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the territory. Such agreements with the US provide the countries that make them with financial assistance and protect their territorial integrity. The COFA agreement with Greenland will stop Trump’s desire to make the island of 57,000 people part of the US.
The US currently has COFA agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.
Diplomacy is the ‘first option’: official
The official did not provide a price for the potential purchase.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first choice in anything, and make a deal. He likes deals. So if a good deal can be found to get Greenland, that would be his first priority,” said the official.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the administration’s recent threats against Greenland do not indicate an imminent attack and the intention is to buy the island from Denmark during a conference of congressional leaders late Monday, two sources familiar with the meeting said.
Rubio’s comments were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Members of Congress, including some Republicans who are close to Trump, dismissed the administration’s comments about Greenland, noting that NATO member Denmark has been a loyal American ally.
“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a statement.
US Representative Don Bacon, a Republican, called on the Trump administration to stop publicly targeting Greenland.
“The way we’re treating them is degrading, and it’s worthless,” Bacon told CNN.
Administration officials say the island is important to the US because of its mineral deposits with important technological and military applications. These resources remain unutilized due to lack of manpower, lack of infrastructure and other challenges.
“It’s not going to go away,” the official said of Trump’s campaign to acquire Greenland during his three years in office.
