The White House has confirmed that US President Donald Trump is discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland, including the possible use of military force, describing the Arctic island as a national security priority.
In a statement to the BBC on Tuesday, the White House said acquiring Greenland, a semi autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and a Nato ally, was central to US security interests.
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the Commander-in-Chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
The remarks came hours after European leaders issued a joint statement backing Denmark and rejecting any challenge to Greenland’s status, amid growing concern over Washington’s intentions.
Trump reiterated over the weekend that the US “needed” Greenland for security reasons, prompting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to warn that any US attack on the island would effectively end Nato.
On Tuesday, leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark said Greenland’s future could only be decided by Copenhagen and Nuuk.
“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
While stressing shared concerns with the US over Arctic security, the European leaders said this must be pursued collectively through Nato. They also called for “upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders”.
Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, welcomed the statement and urged restraint.
“The dialogue must take place with respect for the fact that Greenland’s status is rooted in international law and the principle of territorial integrity,” he said.
The renewed focus on Greenland followed a recent US military operation in Venezuela, where American forces seized President Nicolás Maduro to face drug and weapons charges in New York. A day later, Katie Miller, the wife of senior Trump aide Stephen Miller, posted a map of Greenland coloured like the US flag with the word “SOON”.
Stephen Miller later said it was “the formal position of the US government that Greenland should be part of the US”, adding in an interview with CNN, “Nobody’s going to fight the US over the future of Greenland.”
An unnamed senior US official told Reuters that options under discussion included purchasing Greenland outright or entering a Compact of Free Association with the territory.
A US state department spokesperson told the BBC that Washington was “eager to build lasting commercial relationships that benefit Americans and the people of Greenland”.
“Our common adversaries have been increasingly active in the Arctic. That is a concern that the United States, the Kingdom of Denmark, and NATO Allies share,” the spokesperson said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told lawmakers in a classified briefing that the administration did not plan to invade Greenland, but had discussed buying it from Denmark, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said talks with Rubio should resolve “certain misunderstandings”.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt told the BBC that discussions were ongoing.
“I think they’re just in talks right now,” he said. “My hope is that Europe would understand that a strong America is good, it’s good for Western civilisation.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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